Legal California Poker Sites & Online Casinos - Californian Licensed

Playing Online Poker Legally in the State of California

For poker players residing in California, the long awaited and highly anticipated SB 1485 bill was introduced to legalize and regulate online poker in California. This is great news for players, as the bill will allow the California Department of Justice to grant contracts for intrastate online gambling. What this means is that once the bill passes, California players will be able to play online poker from their homes without any of the consequences following the UIGEA. The California poker bill will provide the state with an additional source of revenue, while at the same time protecting players and offering consumer protection as the sites will become legal California poker sites.

Below we have listed a number of safe and licensed poker sites as well as casinos that accept players from the state of California.  

The poker rooms and casinos listed above accept all players from California. Although the SB 1485 is still in the works, the gambling sites featured here are legal and regulated in their respective jurisdictions. What this means is that you will be able to download, create an account and play for real money without any problems or worry of any legal issues.

You will also note that each site featured on this page is fully licensed in the Netherlands Antilles and more specifically Curacao, including Intertops Poker, BetOnline Poker and Cake Poker. Gambling is one of the island's largest industries and one of the main sources of revenue. The Netherlands Antilles was one of the first jurisdictions to regulate online gambling and since 2001 the Governor of the Netherlands Antilles has licensed hundreds of casinos and poker rooms according to the National Ordinance Offshore Games of Hazard.  All sites licensed by the Netherlands Antilles must submit to an intense and exhaustive application process prior to receiving their license. The investigation is to ensure that the companies operate under the regulations set forth under the National Ordinance Offshore Games of Hazard and policies are strictly enforced.  In addition to this, a third-party company (TSTGlobal) performs the audits on each site to ensure that the games are fair and random.

The California SB 1485 - California Online Poker Law Enforcement Compliance & Consumer Protection Act
State Senator Rod Wright (D-Inglewood) introduced a new piece of legislation into the house that would allow the state to accept bids for three state run online poker/casino sites. If passed, this would make California the first US state to legally license and regulate online poker. The SB 1485 bill would allow the state to share in 20% of the gross revenue generated from the online sites and with an estimated 1.5 million Californians playing poker online, the state would see billions of dollars in much needed revenue. The California Online Poker Law Enforcement Compliance and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 would allow the California Gambling Commission to monitor for fraud, underage gamblers as well as ensure that the gaming sites operating under the proposed bill operate fairly. Companies that want to participate in California's regulated gambling would need to submit a proposal to the state's DOJ. Under the new proposed law, internet poker sites legalized by the state of California would bid on five year contracts to operate online poker sites within state borders.

The original issue of intrastate internet poker was brought up during the later part of 2008 by California legislatures who would later propose the California Online Poker Law Enforcement Compliance and Consumer Protection Act. The purpose of the act was to provide relief to the cash strapped state as well as provide protection to the poker players in California who wanted to play online.

The bill requested the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Gambling Control and the California Gambling Control Commission to “prepare draft regulations containing suggested guidelines for the play of poker on the Internet pursuant to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 and to provide a structure for regulation of intrastate poker on the Internet by gambling establishments and tribal casinos authorized to operate in California.”

In it's original forum, the proposal suggested that intrastate online gambling would not be in violation of the UIGEA since;

"Declaring that intrastate wagering permitted by individual states is not considered “illegal internet gambling” under the terms of UIGEA, Congress included specific provisions and an exemption in UIGEA for individual states to permit Internet gambling within their own borders under certain conditions."

The Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations met on June 21st 2010 for a hearing on the proposed Senate Bill 1485. While the tribes have sought after intrastate gambling and have been proactive in the possibility of legalizing poker in California, the 11 tribes are opposed to state Sen. Rod Wright's bill in its current form. According to the Morongo's, Sen Wright's bill is way to broad to consider. Preferably, the tribes would like the bill to exclude any offshore companies from pursuing a contract with the state. The bill in it's current form would clearly go against any and all tribal pacts the government is committed to. Another hearing will take place on June 29, 2010.

The Senate Bill 1485 is still in the state senate and as such this page will be updated when more information becomes available.