Legal Gambling Age in California

At the time of writing this post, sports betting is illegal in California and therefore the general rule of the legal gambling age in California doesn’t work. There have been two attempts to legalize and regulate sports betting and online bookmakers in 2022 but both failed. Therefore, the next possible change in the legislative background can be expected no earlier than 2024 – 2025. Today, only social sportsbooks are freely available to locals.

Gambling at land-based casinos is only possible at tribal casinos on the territory of the state. Any person 18/21 years old is eligible; the final rule about the allowed age depends on the facility.

All online casinos are still illegal.

Land-based poker games and poker rooms are legal and available in numerous casinos in the state. The gambling age in California is the same as for casino facilities – 18 or 21 years of age is the eligible minimum. People can also organize poker parties at home but without any profit for the host.

Now, the situation with online poker is a bit complicated; it has not been announced as legal, and neither Federal law nor California state law directly prohibits playing poker online for real money. So, most likely, players will not be persecuted if they find an available online platform for playing poker, but operators will have trouble with the law eventually.

Formally, daily fantasy sports have been made de facto legal in California because these are not considered games of chance. However, the lack of formal regulation and effort in this direction results in the fact that daily fantasy sports are neither legal nor illegal in practice. So, if players 18 years of age or older find a platform to play they will have no trouble with the law.

Playing the lottery is allowed starting from 18 years of age. Only very limited lotteries are available in the state, one of them being California State Lottery. The latest law issued in 2021 allowed some other lottery games under very strict regulation and only retail (not online).

According to the California Penal Code, bingo was excluded from the general pool of activities that are considered gambling but only if bingo is used to raise funds for charity. Online bingo is prohibited due to a lack of possibilities for regulation. The California gambling age for playing bingo is 18 years old.

Any person 18 years of age and older can visit horse racing tracks in California and make real-money bets on horses. Pari-mutuel wagers are also legal. There are many off-track facilities that allow making bets without visiting the track. Several tribal casinos in the state allow bets on simulcast races.