On this page, we’ve compiled an in-depth summary of the current state of online gambling in CA, touching on various topics from the legality of gambling in the state to current regulatory debates. We’ve also compiled a list of safe and secure online casinos for California residents that you can view below, which have all been in business for 10+ years with no issues. If you’re looking for a legal, safe, and trusted California online casinos, you’re in luck!

Available Casino Games in California. The wealth of casino games available to state residents is somewhat surprising given the lack of a well-defined state regulator. In California you’re free to access online casinos offering Roulette, Slots, Blackjack, Poker and State Lottery.

What Are the Top Real Money Online Casinos in California?

California is known for being a trendsetter when it comes to most industries in the United States. It’s no surprise that legalized online gambling in California has grown far ahead of many other locations in the United States.

Why These CA Online Casinos Are The Best

They Offer Legal, Trusted Gambling Games to Residents and Visitors

The entire reason you’re probably here is to figure out which online casinos offer services to California residents. You’ve probably heard mixed answers about the legality of online gambling in California and, therefore, are not sure where you can and cannot play.

Because of that, the number one trait that makes California online casinos great is simply the fact that they offer services to California residents and visitors!

They Offer Games Californians Love to Play

What good is an online casino if it doesn’t have the games that Californians love to play? We’ll answer that question for you—it’s no good at all. The California online casinos that we’ve recommended offer an extremely wide variety of games, including favorites like blackjack, craps, roulette, three card poker, keno, slot machines, pai gow, sic bo, and more! If you’re looking for an easy way to play your favorite gambling games for real money in California, check out one of the recommended online casinos from the up-to-date list at the top of the page.

They Have Banking Options That Work Fast

Not every banking option works everywhere in the world. There are specific banking options that work better and faster for California residents. When we’re analyzing the quality of California online casinos, we ensure that they have several high-quality online casino banking options that work great for Californians.

While we don’t need tons of options, we do want to see at least a couple of great deposit options and a couple of great withdrawal options. You’re only going to need one, but we want options just so you have a better chance of seeing an option that is a great fit for you.

The Ultimate in Convenience

The entire point of using online casino sites is to provide convenience. California is an extremely spread out state in some areas, which means you may be hundreds of miles from the closest land-based casino. Additionally, that land-based casino might not offer the games you want to play. This is where online casinos come in. The idea of an online casino is to solve these problems and bring convenience to players across the state.

But this convenience goes away if the online gambling site doesn’t set things up properly. It should be super simple for you to create an account, make a deposit, find the games you like, play, and withdraw your winnings. If any of these things aren’t super simple, we’re not interested in the site and you won’t see those California online casinos recommended on this page.

Is Online Gambling Legal in California?

These days, the United States is one of the more confusing countries in the world when it comes to online gambling laws, with dozens of states having different rules and nuances of how they treat the topic. When it comes to California, it is perhaps the unique exception. There are currently no specific regulations that explicitly prohibit online gambling for residents of the state.

Because of this, Californians have little worry when it comes to playing online casino games, and currently, there are a number of trustworthy sites offering online casino games, sports betting, and poker across the state.

Unlike the state lottery, casinos that operate online are not subject to any sort of government scrutiny and, in many ways, can operate without fear of legal ramifications. For this reason, many bills have been proposed with the end goal of legalizing and regulating the online casino industry in the state.

Up to this point, however, any and all legislation aimed at legalizing and regulating online casinos has either stalled or has been flat-out rejected.

What Does This Mean for You?

There are two important takeaways you should get from this. One, it is not illegal for you to gamble online in California. You are free to play the games you want for real money without fear of negative repercussions. Two, the market is unregulated, which means that you will not have some of the added protections and oversight you would get in a regulated market.

This makes it that much more important that you choose to gamble online in California. The good news for you is that casinos make a lot of money. For them to continue making money, they have to continue having happy customers that are getting the entertainment value they desire. If they are not operating reputably and taking care of their customers, word will get out, and their cash cow is going to dry up. This places a huge incentive for online casinos in California to do things the right way as if they were being regulated.

Still, not every online casino follows that mindset. There are some California online casinos that only look at the short term and don’t care about their long-term sustainability. Because of this, it is also important that you take advantage of resources like this site to help you determine where the best casinos online are. If you want to ensure you’re betting with one of these reputable sites, stick to the recommended list we’ve provided at the top of the page.

The Future of Online Gambling in California

Despite what has been a mostly fruitless endeavor up to this point, experts believe that California is one of the next states that will establish legalized intrastate online casinos. Each year, it seems as though a larger number of bills for the complete and total legalization and regulation of online casinos gets put into circulation.

It is only a matter of time until one of them is signed into law. With that being said, online gambling sites are what many would consider to be the least of California’s governmental problems. With almost constant drought, severe debt, and many other issues on hand, it becomes difficult for activists to convince politicians and voters alike that establishing an online casino network is something that should be done soon. Many efforts have been made, and only few have succeeded.

The fact that the California government does not oversee them does not mean that the California online casinos which offer their games are not trustworthy. These casinos are regulated abroad and most are very reliable; you just have to sign up with time-tested ones with stellar reputations. To help you with choosing a legal CA online casino to play at, we have reviewed and researched dozens and recommend the best online casinos for California residents at the top of the page.

Legal Status of Brick and Mortar Casinos — California

In California, there are plenty of brick-and-mortar locations all over the state. One thing that all of these casinos have in common, however, is that they are all Native American-run and almost always located on Native American land. This sounds like a rather conservative policy for an otherwise liberal state, but the wider scope of gambling and casinos in California is not as restrictive as it may first appear. Of course, this all depends on where you reside in the United States.

The land-based casinos in California usually offer all the classic favorites such as slots, roulette, keno, baccarat, blackjack and the like.

Card rooms—as they are known in California—number in the tens of dozens and seem to be growing in number all the time. Poker is the dominant offering of California’s card rooms, however, blackjack variants and other more obscure games can be found being played as well. Basically, so long as the game is centered around playing cards, the rule of thumb is that it can likely be found at a card room. Naturally, some card rooms are better than others, and thus, the offering of one card room is never equal to that of another.

Additionally, if you play non-poker, gambling-type games in one of these card rooms, you’ll notice that the “bank” or who you are playing against will actually be another player at the table who is being paid to be there. It’s a confusing system and clearly a workaround for the state laws, but the outcome is the same. You are able to play your favorite games without fear of negative repercussions.

There are brick and mortar, Native American-run casinos all over the state, however, online gambling is still the easiest way to play any and all casino games at any time of day. When it comes down to it, someone who is looking to play casino games in California will either have to do so at CA online casinos or on Native American land. As you might have guessed, this predicament means that online casino play in California is quite widespread. It’s this common knowledge that is driving the push to legalize and regulate real money online casinos.

In recent years, pro-casino activists have lobbied politicians to promote and/or vote for bills to expand the way in which Californians can gamble at brick-and-mortar sites, but most of those efforts have so far been for naught. This is interesting, too, because California is historically one of the more liberal states in the country. Some of the largest land-based casinos currently operating in California include the following:

Local California Land Based Casinos

California Online Casinos and Gambling FAQ

• Abbreviation: CA
• State Motto: Eureka
• Capital City: Sacramento
• Population Estimate: 39.5 million (1st)
• Website: https://www.ca.gov/

Most notably, the online casinos we recommend for California residents have all been operating for many years and have strong reputations to defend. In case of issues, they will resolve them immediately so that their stellar reputations are not sullied. These online casinos also use time-tested technology and reputable casino games, therefore, you can be sure that if you decide to make a deposit in one of these casinos, your depositing process will be safe and secure and the games you will play will be fair and give you an honest chance to win money!

In California, you can enjoy most types of gambling to some extent, even though most forms of gambling are illegal within its borders. Currently, slot games are illegal in California but can be found at tribal casinos, which operate on reservation land and are not beholden to CA law.

Below we present a breakdown of what types of slot games you can find in California and how they differ from Las Vegas’ slot game offerings.

Vegas-Style Slots Versus California Slots

You can find tons of slot games to play in California, even for real money. But while playing slot machines and wagering real money is totally legal in Vegas, the same isn’t true for the Golden State.

Gambling for money is largely illegal in California, except for horse racing and daily fantasy sports. Indian casinos get around this legal restriction since they operate on sovereign Indian ground. Therefore, you can play slots in California so long as they are within a legally operating tribal casino establishment.

Similarities And Differences

Virtually all forms of gambling are legal in Las Vegas, whether for money, digital sweeps coins, or other types of currency. In Las Vegas, you can find all types of slot machines and games in the variety of casinos there. In California, slot games are limited to Indian casinos.

However, this isn’t to say that you won’t find plenty of variety at those Indian casinos. Indeed, many of the largest tribal casinos have thousands of slot machines and tons of variety for slot game enthusiasts to enjoy. For instance, Pechanga Resort Casino is the largest in the entire state and features 4,500 slot machines in total across 188,000 ft.² of gaming space.

There is a shared similarity between California and Las Vegas slots. In most cases, you need to be 21-years-old to play slots. Although the legal gambling age in California is 18-years-old, tribal casinos can set their own legal gambling age. Most of them err on the side of caution and set this to 21-years-old instead of 18-years-old since they serve alcohol on their open gambling floors.

They do this so they don’t accidentally serve alcohol to any underage gamblers. There are only a few tribal casinos in California that allow 18-years-olds to enter.

Largest Northern California Slots Casinos In California

These are the two largest and most slot-intensive casinos in Northern California:

Cache Creek Casino

This newly-reopened tribal casino has a fantastic hotel coming in late 2021. At this time, it’s open 24 hours a day and features almost a 75,000 ft.² space with 2,400 slot machines. Over 300 of these machines are in a non-smoking area. There’s also 122 table games and a high-stakes table area that includes blackjack and baccarat.

You’ll be able to find most of the slots on the main casino floor, separated by a central area featuring table games. There’s also a high limit slots area on the north end of the casino. This is a perfect place if you enjoy slots with more on the line.

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Regardless of the titles you choose, you’ll be able to join the casino’s club and benefit from tons of bonuses and high payback limits. The more you play, the more rewards you’ll earn as you spend time at this casino. It’s a great staple gaming establishment if you like to head to the slots every weekend as a hobby.

Thunder Valley Casino Resort

This Northern California tribal casino is located just outside Sacramento. The casino currently features nearly 145,000 ft.² of gaming space and is open 24 hours a day, with 2,800 slot machines and over 130 live poker and gaming tables. There’s also a 500-seat bingo area if you’re interested.

The slots you can find range from classic reel favorites, like Quick Hits, to newer slot games like Willy Wonka’s Munchkinland. The variety of slot machines is truly staggering and slot game enthusiasts will find a lot to like as they tour the expansive space. New and exciting slot machines are usually added to a dedicated spot in Thunder Valley’s Pano Hall. This way, you don’t have to hunt for new games if you check out this casino frequently.

Slot game bets range from one cent up to $100 depending on your preference. There’s also a smoke-free slots room, plus a bonus strike jackpot system that all players can partake in. Players can enjoy extra rewards like chances for bonus jackpots if they sign up for a Thunder Rewards Card.

Here are all the tribal slots casinos operating currently in Northern California:

• Bear River Casino
• Black Oak Casino
• Cache Creek Casino
• Cer-Ae Heights Bingo and Casino
• Chicken Ranch Casino
• Chuckchansi Gold Resort & Casino
• Colusa Casino Resort
• Coyote Valley Casino
• Desert Rose Casino
• Diamond Mountain Casino
• Eagle Mountain Casino
• Elk Valley Casino
• Feather Falls Casino and Lodge
• Garcia River Casino
• Gold Country Casino
• Graton Resort & Casino
• Hard Rock Fire Mountain Casino
• Harrah’s Northern California Casino
• Hidden Oaks Casino
• Hopland So-Ka-Wah Casino & Bingo
• Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort
• Konocti Vista Casino Resort, Marina & RV Park
• Lucky 7 Casino
• Lucky Bear Casino
• Mechoopda Casino Project
• Mono Wind Casino
• North Fork Rancheria Resort Hotel & Casino
• Paiute Palace Casino
• Pit River Casino
• Playstation 777
• Rain Rock Casino
• Red Fox Casino & Bingo
• Red Hawk Casino
• Redwood Hotel Casino
• River Rock Casino
• Robinson Rancheria Resort & Casino
• Rolling Hills Casino
• Running Creek Casino
• San Pablo Lytton Casino
• Sherwood Valley Casino
• Table Mountain Casino
• Tachi Palace Casino Resort
• Thunder Valley Casino
• Twin Pine Casino
• Win-River Casino
• Winnedumah Winn’s Casino

Largest Southern California Slots Casinos In California

Here are the two largest Southern California slots casinos:

Pechanga Resort Casino

This is the largest of all California casinos, totaling 188,000 ft.² of gaming space and 4,500 slot machines, along with tons of table games and other entertainment activities and venues. It’s located in Riverside County, so it’s also very close to wine country. It’s a phenomenal casino since it’s open 24 hours a day and features an expansive slot floor.

Even better, the slot floor has been reworked since the COVID-19 pandemic. Games are now spaced about a machine’s width away to ensure appropriate physical distancing. Classic favorites and newer slot games alike can be found pretty easily, including state-of-the-art reel games, keno games, video poker games, video reels, and more.

The casino makes use of a ticketing system so you can enjoy all the games you like before turning in your total winnings. Slot machine enthusiasts will also really appreciate that this casino constantly updates their game selection, bringing in new titles every few months and filtering out old, lesser played games in order to make space.

Ultimately, it’s a slot player’s dream location, with something new almost every time you pay a visit.

San Manuel Casino

This casino has also recently reopened after its COVID-19 closure. Originally a bingo-only casino, San Manuel Casino now hosts 4,800 slot machines and 120,000 ft.². It’s open 24 hours a day and features many additional table games and a poker room.

Like Pechanga, the casino has redesigned its gaming floor to ensure appropriate social distancing. There are two stories across which you can find slot games, including video reels, video keno, progressive jackpots, mystery jackpots, and more. 120 video poker machines are also scattered throughout the space. You’ll be able to find slot games that range from penny slots to high limit slots depending on how risky you are feeling on a given day.

New slot machines are added pretty frequently, so the floor is almost always shifting and changing from season to season. You can find classics and new and noteworthy slot machines at this time, with new and innovative titles on the way.

Here is our round-up of slots casinos in Southern California:

• Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage
• Augustine Casino
• Barona Resort & Casino
• Barstow Casino and Resort Project
• Cahuilla Casino
• Casino Pauma
• Fantasy Springs Casino
• Golden Acorn Casino
• Havasu Landing Resort & Casino
• Jamul Casino
• La Jolla Trading Post & Casino
• Morongo Travel Center
• Pala Casino Spa Resort
• Pechanga Resort & Casino
• Quechan Casino Resort
• Red Earth Casino
• San Manuel Casino
• Soboba Casino
• Spotlight 29 Casino
• Tortoise Rock Casino
• Valley View Casino
• Viejas Casino

California Slots Casinos FAQ

Yes. Even though you technically earn that money on tribal grounds, you’ll still need to pay taxes on it at the end of the year.

The National Indian Gaming Commission is responsible for most casino regulation, except for a few high-stakes games and tournaments.

Mostly because California’s Native American tribes have made it difficult to pass pro-gambling legislation in the state senate, as it represents a big source of income for the tribes.

No. You can play Chumba Casino, LuckyLandSlots, and other sweepstakes slot sites, as these have you compete for digital currencies instead of real money.

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California Online Casino Real Money Payout

Not likely anytime soon. Sports betting and other types of gambling legislation are more likely than slots gambling to come to fruition in the coming years.