CA is home to nearly 100 real money poker card rooms, 68 tribal casinos and a plethora of horseracing tracks and thanks to all those real cash gambling options, many people say California, and not Las Vegas, is the gambling capital of the United States. High stakes poker betting pros and rich businessmen alike flock to the state to play in some of the biggest real cash poker and casino games and tournaments in the world. Gigantic casinos like the Commerce attract millions of tourists to California each and every year, rivalling historic landmarks like the Hollywood Walk of Fame in popularity. Remember though, all these 2020 betting options are at land based casinos not poker websites or Internet casinos.

Best Texas Holdem Poker Sites for 2020 If you’re looking to play online Texas Holdem for real money, then you’ve come to the right place. On top of listing the few remaining brands that cater to the US market, as well as all worldwide operators, this page contains a chronological overview of everything that has transpired since the Black Friday events in the United States.

Due to its nearly 38 million residents, California is on the radar of just about every state that has already passed, or is in the process of passing, laws that legalize regulated Internet gambling and lawful real money Internet poker. Interstate compacts involving California would do wonders for the popularity of online poker websites in the United States.

However, although committees have been trying to hash out a plan that would bring legal Internet poker to California for some time, no new gambling legislation has actually been passed yet. But make no mistake; California is undoubtedly the state most likely to pass an iGaming bill in the very near future and open up casinos and poker websites to CA residents.

  • Are there any legit sites anymore? My brother used to play texas holdem and blackjack online for real money back about 5-6 years ago, then he switched to craps. I know that since then, the sites have been mostly shut down in the US except for some states and such, but are any of these legit?
  • The American online gambling market is so fraught with legal danger, many of the world’s best-known names in Web and mobile-based gambling don’t do any business at all with US players. Bet365 is one of those big name poker sites that don’t make their services available to US players at all, which is a sign of legitimacy all its own.

Avid poker players in The Golden State will have no trouble at all signing up for an account at any one of our real money US poker sites.

PokerStars Forges Historic Partnership With Morongo Tribe, California Cardrooms

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  • 6 The Facts
In a joint press release submitted by the Rational Group, the Morongo Tribe of Mission Indians and three of California’s largest real cash poker cardrooms (the Commerce, the Bicycle and the Hawaii Gardens Casino), the group announced its plans to bring regulated online poker to the Golden State. PokerStars would not only serve as a sub-contractor for the conglomerate, but become their front facing brand and provide lawful Internet poker to betting fans in CA.

In a display of impeccable timing, the release was issued during a hearing held by the State Assembly’s Committee on Governmental Organization to discuss the fiscal and public policy implications of legalizing online real money poker in California.

Currently in 2020, the bills up for consideration by legislatures both call for a “bad actor” clause, which would effectively eliminate the world’s biggest Internet poker gambling provider, PokerStars from the equation.

The bad actor issue may inevitably delay the passage of a regulatory gaming act in California and cause serious delays on bringing legit poker gambling on the Internet to long suffering players in CA.

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Can Players from California Play Online Poker?

Yes. Although online Internet poker will likely not be regulated by the state of California for another year, players are free to sign up with over a dozen real-money poker websites offering real money poker gambling to United States citizens, which is great news for poker gambling fans. Compare this to other states, like New York and Washington that make it difficult for players to start betting on Internet poker anywhere.

Is Online Poker Legal in California?

Although we are not an authority on the legality of Internet poker in California, we have researched this issue extensively. Listed below are several points of interest concerning 2020‘s current California real cash gambling laws:

  • Online poker is not regulated by the state of California.
  • Commercial casinos are authorized by the state of CA, however games where the outcome of each bet is determined by dice alone, such as craps, cannot be operated by card rooms that offer games like real money poker.
  • Tribal casinos are authorized by the state and can house non-card games like craps.
  • Sports betting is not authorized by the state of California.
  • Various forms of lotteries are authorized by the state
  • All forms of real money poker gambling are authorized by the state, except online Internet poker.
  • There is no California law directly prohibiting or criminalizing the act of placing a wager at a poker websites online.
  • Internet horseracing is authorized.

For a more comprehensive look at California gambling laws, interested parties are encouraged to read the latest edition of the Gambling Law, Regulations, and Resource Information – 2020 edition [1].

Poker players in California are advised to research the CA state laws before concluding as to whether online Internet poker is legal or not. Remember, there is a distinct difference between something being ‘prohibited’ and ‘non-regulated.’ Brian Mickers wrote a great article on the topic of lawful poker websites; one that provides in-depth insight into the issue of Internet poker [2].

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Recent Developments

In 2013, three separate pieces of real cash Internet poker legislation were introduced in California. They were:

  • SB 51 – Senator Roderick Wright’s “Internet Gambling Consumer Protection and Public-Private Partnership Act of 2013”
  • SB 678 – Senator Lou Correa’s “Authorization and Regulation of Internet Poker and Consumer Protection Act of 2013”
  • The Internet Poker Consumer Protection Act of 2013 – An online poker bill sponsored by eight California tribes.

The Internet Poker Consumer Protection Act of 2015 was filed by Assemblyman Mark Gatto. The bill would legalize Internet poker but keep the ‘bad actor’ clause which bans poker operators who have violated the law before.

Besides Gatto’s 2015 Act, the he aforementioned lawful poker bills have all failed to generate much momentum in government, largely because of the influx of infighting among California State’s varied gambling interests at the time. Tribal casinos enjoy several tax advantages in the real money betting world, and may not be willing to give up a piece of revenue generated through real cash poker website profits. They’re also adamantly against interstate compacts and racetrack participation. Others feel that online Internet poker companies should only be allowed to operate through card rooms based in CA and bring betting fans a slice of the Internet Texas Hold’em action.

That, and there was little evidence from other states besides California as to the viability of a lawful Internet poker market.

Joe Correa made SB 678 severable. This means that if any portion of the gambling websites bill is deemed unacceptable it can be made invalid immediately. By taking this urgent measure, Correa hoped to get SB 678 enacted into law before the September 6, 2013 deadline. It didn’t work, and the issue of legit real money Internet poker was put off until 2014 [3].

Then, at the February 2014 legislative deadline, two new poker gambling website bills were introduced:

  • SB 1366: Effectively a rehash of SB 678; backed by San Manuel Band of Mission Indians
  • AB 2291: Introduced by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, AB 2291 is essentially the assembly version of SB 1366.

Unfortunately, all parties could not reach an agreement about the terms of the new regulations before the end of the 2014 session, meaning the bills were dumped.

In December 2014, Assemblyman Mike Gatto took over the online poker cause and filed a new bill, AB9. Its full title is the Internet Poker Consumer Protection Act of 2015 and it aims to bring regulated legal online poker to CA.

Notable aspects of the bills include:

  • The real cash poker Internet bill would require provisions that would ensure the safety of player funds.
  • The minimum age to play online Internet poker in the state of California would be 21.
  • Players must be located within the State of California in order to start gambling on real money poker websites.
  • Betting companies that violate federal law would not be permitted to set up poker gambling and casino operations.
  • All online poker website software would have to include self-exclusion features such as loss limits and time-outs for real cash poker players to implement themselves.
  • Licenses for real money Internet poker would be valid for 10 years, non-transferable and cost $5 million.
  • Regulations would go into effect within 270 days of passage.

The Facts

The History of Gambling in California

1850

1850

Even before California became a state, card rooms have been up and running since 1850. These were also known as “California Casinos” or “Card Clubs”.

1933

1933

California’s gambling industry grew in 1933, with the introduction of horse race wagering. The California Constitution was amended for this to take place and 6 major horse racetracks were introduced to the state. In addition, over 30 off-track betting locations were spread throughout the state.

1984

1984

Due to Proposition 37, State lottery was introduced to California, which has been incredibly successful to this day.

Real1988Texas holdem for money online

1988

The ‘Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’ was the main reason why gambling became even more popular throughout the State in the late 90’s. As a result of this, negotiations began with tribes (more than 50) and Bingo type games were the premise of these negotiations.

2000

2000

A law was passed in this year which fully legalised casino gambling on tribal lands. This gave the tribes an opportunity to negotiate their compacts and come to an agreement of what machines and table games they can offer in their casinos.

2010

2010

With the rise of internet gambling , California joined the craze and introduced horse racing betting over the internet. Which ultimately led to other forms of internet gambling being introduced in the near future.

2012

2012

The Californian Senate had a busy year with various bills to legalize and regulate online poker being put forward. It wasn’t clear whether the tribes would be a part of regulating and licensing online poker operators, but the idea was definitely being pushed forward.

2014

2014

Due to other states in the country legalising online poker, California was beginning to look like the next one on the list as two more bills were introduced to the Senate. Online poker is still up in the air in this state, but it is showing signs of potential for the near future.

California’s gambling roots can be traced all the way back to the gold rush and the ever popular Texas Hold’em poker game. As early as 1850, the predominately male population of prospectors and miners in CA demanded a masculine form of entertainment. Within mere months, licensed and unsolicited card rooms offering real cash poker games began popping up everywhere. Throughout the next several decades gambling’s popularity died down in California, not re-emerging until the early 1930’s.

In 1907, the Santa Anita Park – one of the most prestigious horseracing tracks in the entire world – opened its doors. However, it wouldn’t be until 1933 that real money gambling on horseracing was legalized in CA. Its legalization caused the relatively dormant poker betting and casino gambling industry to thrive. With the passing of a proposition in 1984 that legalized a statewide lottery, gambling became somewhat of a leisurely, everyday activity for real cash poker fans in CA and for other betting fans.

Around this time countless casinos were constructed; many of them home to poker rooms featuring upwards of 100 to 200 tables and offering classic Texas Hold’em real money poker games and many other popular poker variants. At 240 tables strong, the Los Angeles Commerce Casino [4] houses one of the largest poker gambling rooms not only in California but in the entire world.

Native American owned casinos became popular in the early 2000s. Tribal casinos enjoy several distinct advantages over traditional real cash legit poker card rooms including tax regulation, governing lease arrangements and the ability to offer legal gambling games besides real money poker, such as craps and roulette.

Poker players in California have a good chance of eventually being able to play poker online at legal US poker rooms.

Regulated Gambling Options In California

California is home to more gambling facilities than every state in the US outside of Nevada. It features over 100 legal poker card rooms, 68 tribal casinos, six racetracks and over 21,000 retail outlets licensed to sell lottery tickets. All told, citizens of the Golden State can rarely walk a block without running into some sort of lawful gambling outlet.

The Future Of Regulated Online Gambling In California

Right now, residents of California are permitted to engage in Internet betting on horseracing. All other forms of gambling, including online Internet poker for real cash, are not regulated by the state in 2020. However, it does appear that most of the CA State’s gambling powers are finally on board with online Internet poker-only website legislation. Expect them to come to terms shortly.

The Bottom Line

Given its massive population, if California passes legislation legalizing online poker in The Golden State the Federal Government would be forced to notice – especially if it decides to hold firm on its stance regarding interstate compacts. In fact, some say that California could easily dominate the real money Internet poker website market.

California will undoubtedly enter the Internet poker and gambling arena at some point. The real question is when the legal poker and casino betting websites will start to hit the web. Before PokerStars re-entered the picture, it appeared as though CA State was on target for a mid-2015 launch of legit Internet poker. Now, whether legal online poker comes to California depends on how quickly rival factions can come to terms regarding the inclusion or exclusion of a bad actor clause.

References

[1] ↑ California – Gambling Law, Regulations, and Resource Information

[2] ↑California Online Poker Bill Filed Away Until Next Year

[3] ↑The Commerce Casino and Hotel

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Colorado is one of the few “square” states that seems to be all for online Internet real money poker and casino gambling. Home to the Grand Canyon, the Denver Broncos and approximately 40 tribal and commercial legal casinos, the Centennial State has an amenable relationship with lawful poker betting, largely due to more than $750 million that CO State’s casinos generate in annual revenue.

Given its booming casino industry, which has multiplied by a factor of five over the past five years, it comes as little surprise that Colorado would have a vested interest in pursuing an Internet gambling bill in 2020 that would cover real cash betting on games like Texas Hold’em and other poker variants. And while no official gambling website act has been brought before the CO Senate floor yet, the state’s pro-gambling factions are likely to make a possible push for legal Internet poker in the near future.

It’s cold in The Rockies. Stay inside and have fun by wagering on any of our real money US poker websites.

Colorado One Of 10 States Most Likely To Regulate Online Gambling

Quick Jump

  • 5 The Facts
In 2014 The gambling industry authority, Gambling Compliance [1], announced that at least 10 states were poised to either expand or regulate real money Internet poker or casino games in 2014 [2]. And while it was certainly expected that states like Illinois, California and Pennsylvania would weigh in on the issue, at the time few surmised that Colorado would appear on the short list of states primed to bring legal real cash poker and online gambling to the masses.

But as it turns out, several of Colorado’s gambling and betting interests, including CO State’s largest casino operator, Pinnacle Entertainment, are open to the idea of creating legal poker websites for people in the Rocky Mountain state in 2020. And according to Lois Rice, executive director of the Colorado Gaming Association, talks with some legislators who were interested in pursuing real money Internet poker betting have already taken place [3].

Before passing an iGaming Act relating to lawful Texas Hold’em poker websites and other gambling sites, it is expected that Colorado’s state officials will closely analyze the performance of New Jersey’s and Nevada’s lawful online gambling markets. . As implied by Rice, CO State’s gambling proponents would be hard pressed to move forward with regulating Internet poker until they could more accurately predict the effects online Internet gambling would have on its already thriving land-based casino and real money poker industry.

Although early numbers out of New Jersey indicated that online gamblers are of a different stock than their brick and mortar casino and poker betting counterparts [4], the Internet poker and gambling industry is still in its infancy, rendering the data incomplete.

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Can Players From Colorado Play Online Poker?

Given Colorado’s exceedingly liberal stance with regards to land-based legal poker and casino games for gambling fans, it doesn’t come as a huge surprise that 2020 poker websites currently accepting US players are acquiescent to patrons of Colorado who want in on the real cash Texas Hold’em action on the Internet. The same can’t be said for Utah, the Centennial State’s neighbor to the West.

So if you were worried that signing up to play online Internet poker for real money would prove more difficult than traversing the Grand Canyon – fear not. Our hand-picked list of the best legit poker websites on our homepage are designed to do most of the heavy lifting for you, allowing you to kick back, and click away to enjoy the poker betting fun.

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Is Playing Online Poker legal In Colorado?

As one of only a few non-coastal states that facilitate gambling, Colorado’s 2020 gambling statues are generally mild in nature. The Rocky Mountain state’s law enforcement agencies rarely pursue real cash poker players with vigor, focusing the majority of their efforts on Internet gambling operators instead.

Still, CO State’s definition of gambling is exceedingly broad and can easily be interpreted to include poker betting under its scope:

Gambling means risking any real money, credit, deposit, or other thing of value for gain contingent in whole or in part upon lot, chance, the operation of a gambling device, or the happening or outcome of an event, including a sporting event, over which the person taking a risk has no control. Section 18-10-102(2)

Just the phrase relating to chance, implies that playing offline or Internet poker in 2020 is considered gambling.

The definition goes on to list several exceptions, one of which pertains to social gamblers:

Exempt is any game, wager, or transaction which is incidental to a bona fide social relationship, is participated in by natural persons only, and in which no person is participating, directly or indirectly, in professional gambling. Section 18-10-102(2d)

In order to fully gauge the aforementioned definition, it is imperative to understand how the state sees professional real cash gambling.

Professional gambling means: (a) Aiding or inducing another to engage in gambling, with the intent to derive a profit therefrom; or (b) Participating in gambling and having, other than by virtue of skill or luck, a lesser chance of losing or a greater chance of winning than one of more of the other participants. Section 18-10-102(8)

In other words, real money poker players who cheat or goad fish betting in a poker game into a gambling setting with the intention of exploiting them are considered professional gamblers. Operators could be classified as professional gamblers as well. Otherwise, in so long as the house doesn’t charge a fee or take a rake, playing Texas Hold’em or any other kind of poker shouldn’t present an issue.

The penalties for participating in illicit gambling activities are minimal, at worst:

A person who engages in gambling commits a class 1 petty offense. Section 18-10-103

In short, gamblers receive a slap on the wrist. Operators, on the other hand are subject to class 1 misdemeanors for first offenses, and class 5 felonies for subsequent violations.

Regarding online poker, the law is less direct:

Whoever knowingly transmits or receives gambling information by telephone, telegraph, radio, semaphore, or other means or knowingly installs or maintains equipment for the transmission of receipt or gambling information commits a class 3 misdemeanor. If the offender is a repeating gambling offender, it is a class 6 felony. Section 18-10-106

Certainly, this statue was penned before the advent of Internet poker websites and online gambling. Yet conveniently, it does indirectly infer that running an online real cash Internet poker operation within Colorado’s borders is in fact illegal. That being said, the definition only applies to those who conduct gambling operations, not to the poker players who are betting.

As you can see, the legality of playing online poker in Colorado in 2020 resides in a murky gray area, and the decision about how legal poker websites are is best left to a legal professional to decide. However, to our knowledge no one has been prosecuted for wagering real money online on Internet poker games.

For more on Colorado’s state code [5], please refer to the “References” section.

The Facts

The History Of Gambling In Colorado

As far back as the early 1800s, gold miners, prospectors and trappers either living in Colorado or simply passing through CO spurred the growth of gambling within the state. It’s widely believed that Colorado was home to the nation’s first real cash poker and casino gambling house, a saloon that went by the name Brown’s Saloon. Brown’s was located in Black Hawk, Colorado [6] – a town that would later on serve as home base for the gambling and betting boom that would sweep the state.

Despite laws that rendered gambling illegal, real money wagering on Texas Hold’em poker and other games continued on in Colorado well into the early-1900s. But it wouldn’t be until much later on (the late 20th century) that the first legal poker rooms and casinos would open their doors to the public.

In 1988, the Federal government passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which effectively allowed tribal factions to operate legal poker games and casinos within their grounds. Fast forward three years later and casinos offering real cash poker and casino games were already beginning to crop up in Black Hawk and nearby Central City.

However, Colorado imposed severe limitations on how casinos could conduct their operations. For instance, the maximum wager that a betting fan could place was a paltry $5. Also, casinos could only operate during designated hours and only CO players over the age of 21 were permitted to take part in gambling on poker and other games by betting.

That being said, the Colorado Limited Gaming Act of 1990 did allow for blackjack, slot machines and most notably poker. The law would be relaxed in 2008, thus ushering in a second real money poker and gambling boom; one that has continued to this very day and has even stretched to Internet poker. To date, Colorado boasts approximately 40 commercial and tribal casinos and reaps in five times the annual gambling revenue than it did just five years earlier thanks to a range of lawful real cash poker games and other casino classics.

In 1983, Colorado legalized the sale of lottery tickets and today permits players to participate in a wide variety of real money lottery gambling formats, including the multi-jurisdiction Powerball and Mega Millions drawings.

Regulated Gambling Options In Colorado

Since 2008, casino and legal poker gambling in Colorado more closely resembles that found in popular gambling states like New Jersey and Nevada. Many of Colorado’s largest casinos now boast several considerably sized real cash poker rooms full of betting options for CO residents, the majority of which are located in Central City and Black Hawk.

Pari-mutuel wagering, lottery sales and charitable bingo and raffles are also permitted within Colorado State – not bad for a state that only first introduced regulated legit poker and casino gambling into its culture 30 years ago.

The Future Of Regulated Online Gambling In Colorado

In late 2013, Colorado lawmakers began drafting an iGaming bill that would authorize real money gambling at online Internet poker websites. The effort stalled, but it proves that Colorado’s powers-that-be are beyond the point of merely discussing an iGaming act, and ready to take action in 2020 on the issue of Internet gambling.

Fun Fact

In 2010, a Colorado Supreme Court refused to weigh in on the skill vs. chance debate with regards to both offline and Internet poker [7]. The debate began two years earlier, when the state’s Bureau of Investigation arrested five gambling operators for holding a $20 real money poker tournament. Pro-poker advocates were in an uproar, using the opportunity to advocate poker as a game of skill and therefore legal for betting on.

The charges against the real cash poker operators were eventually dropped, although the jury did not state the reasoning behind the verdict. Afterwards, one of the accused, Kevin Raley, with support from the Poker Player’s Alliance, asked the Supreme Court to examine the case. It did not oblige.

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The Bottom Line

Expect Colorado to move forward with iGaming legislature relating to legal poker websites and Internet casinos in 2015 and beyond. The regulated poker and gambling market is still too new for cautious lawmakers to pursue an act with vigor, and Colorado’s casinos and real money poker rooms are already doing well enough to justify waiting a bit longer before introducing a new sector into the already expansive CO real cash gambling scene.

Considering that the proper regulatory oversight committees are already in place, once an iGaming bill for Internet poker and gambling websites is signed into law, it probably wouldn’t take more than a year before the first online Internet poker room opens its virtual doors to real money poker players in CO.
That being said, it’s considerably more likely that Colorado, like Nevada, will only pursue making Internet poker websites legal in 2020. The good thing is, Colorado’s hefty population of 5.2 million, many of them avid real cash poker players, could indeed produce a healthy online Internet poker betting community.

References

[1] ↑Gambling Compliance

[2] ↑10 states primed to expand Internet gambling opportunities in 2014

[3] ↑Colorado explores online gambling as virtual and mobile casinos boom

[4] ↑Borgata Boss: Online Poker is No Threat to B&M Casinos

[5] ↑Colorado Legal Resources

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[6] ↑Black Hawk, Colorado

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[7] ↑Colorado Supreme Court rejects poker case

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