California is the most populous state in the United States, with 39.5 million individuals calling themselves Californians. Many of them are interested in legal online poker rooms and making online poker legal in the state.
Unfortunately, no state-wide online poker legislation or any other kind of internet gambling law has been passed in California. Every time a law is brought up for discussion, the entrenched political powers go to fight and defeat it. There doesn’t appear to be any agreement to legalize online poker.
Fortunately, online poker in California is not prohibited. Citizens of the United States and the state of California are not prohibited from playing real money online poker games. You may have heard of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) or Black Friday, but none of these events makes your favorite hobby illegal.
Two Senators on the take from the US Casino Lobby slipped UIGEA into law on a must-pass Port Authority online poker bill. The bill caused a stir, although it only affected banks and credit cards that processed online poker bills, not ordinary people. Ultimately, the UIGEA’s policies and certain interpretations of The Wire Act of 1960 led to the US Department of Justice’s ill-fated closure of a number of major poker sites on “Black Friday,” April 15th, 2011. Since then, the Department of Justice has altered its negative interpretation of the Wire Act, allowing more sites to serve the US market.
Online poker rooms have taken note. There are roughly a dozen sites currently serving US players. None of these websites prevent California residents from participating in their games. If you want to check out a full analysis of all California online poker rooms and others, refer to the DonkHunter page for a thorough review and some promos.
Legal online poker sites in California
Some options that offer online poker legally in California include:
Bovada Poker
A real money poker room that is friendly to California players.
Overall, Bovada is one of the best legal online gambling sites for US customers. Bovada is part of the PayWangLuo Network, which also includes Bodog and Bodog88 (previously known as Ignition)
At the tables of Bovada Poker, you’ll find players from the United States, Canada, a few South American countries, and Asia. Bovada also offers horse racing, online casino games, and sports betting in addition to poker. Around the clock, you’ll find a casino, poker, betting, and gambling opportunities at Bovada poker.
BetOnline
BetOnline, Tiger Gaming, and SportsBetting Poker are all part of the Chico Poker Network, which has a large number of players from the United States.
Players can also place bets on horse racing, e-sport, sports betting, play at an online casino, or participate in the FOREX market in this room.
Americas Cardroom
Americas Cardroom is a popular online poker room that is also legal for players from the United States. ACR is a member of the WPN (Winning Poker Network), which includes PokerKing and Black Chip Poker and is regarded as one of the industry’s most prestigious networks. Americas Cardroom is also one of the only poker sites where we may play for real money against players from the United States.
