California Online Casinos – Best Casino Sites For 2024
Real money online casinos are not legal in California. However, anyone 18 or older can play online slots and table games at sites like WOW Vegas, High 5 Casino, and McLuck in the Golden State.
These social casino sites allow you to play a wide range of games for fun. You can also play with Sweeps Coins, which allow you to redeem winnings for cash prizes or gift cards.
This guide highlights the top five online casino options for players in California. We will explain how these sites operate legally in the state, and we will also discuss the land-based tribal casinos and cardrooms that you can visit.
As seen in
California online casino apps for 2024
What’s happening in California online casinos right now
- Sept. 4, 2024 — The California Senate approved SB 549, which is known as the Tribal Nations Access to Justice Act. The bill grants the tribes permission to file a consolidated lawsuit against cardrooms and their service providers for collaborating to offer table games like blackjack in California.
- Aug. 30, 2024 — SB 549 was approved in a 62-0 vote in the California Assembly. The bill paves the way for California’s tribes to sue cardrooms in a bid to defend their exclusivity over table games like blackjack and baccarat in the state.
- July 2, 2024 — Gamblers in California will be able to voluntarily self-exclude from the state’s cardrooms for free from August onward.
- June 24, 2024 — The California Lottery warned retailers to deny purchases from courier services like Jackpocket or Jackpot.com. Online lottery games are prohibited in the state.
Best online casinos in California
We have conducted in-depth reviews of each online casino option in California. After weighing their strengths and weaknesses, we decided that these are the top five sites right now.
1. WOW Vegas California
WOW Vegas is the best site for anyone who wants to play a wide variety of online slots in California. You can play more than 1,200 games at this popular social casino, including classic slots, jackpot slots, and Megaways slots.
We were pleased to find some exclusive games on the site, too, such as WOW Rush and WOW Wilds of Fortune. The site is polished and easy to navigate, and WOW Vegas also provides a strong no-purchase welcome bonus, plus lots of ongoing promos.
2. High 5 Casino California
This award-winning social casino has been welcoming Californians since 2013. You can play a huge range of slots via the High 5 Casino site or the native app, which has strong average user ratings on the App Store and Google Play.
Many of the slots are from parent company High 5 Games, but you can also play games from providers like Pragmatic Play. There are live dealer games, too, including blackjack and poker-style games.
3. McLuck California
McLuck is a modern, stylish app that hosts games from 20 different providers, including renowned studios like NetEnt, Novomatic, and Relax Gaming. We were impressed by the quality of the user interface, which makes it quick and easy to find games within the large portfolio.
Players in California can also participate in live dealer games at McLuck, including a branded blackjack game from Beter Live. There is also a no-purchase welcome bonus, daily login bonus, and a comprehensive rewards program.
4. Pulsz California
Pulsz is the best option for anyone seeking variety games in California. You can play exclusive online scratchers and arcade-style games like Mines, Plinko, Dice, and HiLo alongside a vast library of slots and virtual table games.
The Pulsz site is clean, uncluttered, and accessible. There is also a native app, which has an average user rating of 4.4 stars on the App Store and 4.1 stars on Google Play.
5. Stake.us California
Stake.com is the world’s leading crypto gambling site. The company finally expanded into the US market in 2022 with the launch of Stake.us. This social casino offers superior software, a wider range of games, and larger bonuses than any rivals in California.
However, there are a couple of drawbacks, as Stake.us imposes higher playthrough requirements on its premium coins than most competitors, and you can only redeem crypto prizes as opposed to cash prizes.
How we rank California online casinos
We focus on five key criteria when reviewing and ranking California online casinos:
- Game selection: We assess the game variety and game quality at each site. The best CA online casinos offer a large range of high-quality slots and table games from several leading providers, including a few exclusive titles.
- User experience: Our reviewers consider the layout, design, navigation system, speed, and reliability of each site or app. The best social casinos offer a smooth, simple user interface, which makes it quick and easy to find games.
- Bonuses: We break down the no-purchase welcome bonus, the daily login bonus, any purchase bonuses, and ongoing promotions at each site. The top casinos offer generous welcome bonuses, which come with simple playthrough requirements, and they also provide a steady stream of social media contests, leaderboards, and additional promos.
- Prize redemptions: Our experts assess the prize redemption process at each site. They focus on the playthrough requirements, the minimum prize redemption limits, available payment options, and the redemption speeds. The best sites process redemptions quickly, and they offer low minimum redemption limits.
- Trust and security: We make sure each site is secure and reputable. The company must comply with local sweepstakes regulations and federal regulations, such as the Fair Trade Billing Act.
Only a handful of California online casino options met our requirements: WOW Vegas, McLuck, High 5, Pulsz, and Stake.us. Many other sites struggled in the above criteria, so we ruled them out.
Real money vs. social casinos in California
Real money online casinos are only legal in seven states: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. They allow players to make deposits, play games, and cash out their winnings at any time.
Social casinos in California look similar to traditional online casinos, but you cannot play the games with real money. They offer two currencies:
- Gold Coins: These coins have no monetary value. You simply use them to play slots and table games for fun.
- Sweeps Coins: These are premium coins. Successful Sweeps Coins bets allow users to redeem their winnings for cash prizes or gift cards.
You cannot buy Sweeps Coins, which are also known as Sweepstakes Coins or SC. There are three ways in which you can receive more Sweeps Coins:
- Unlock free SC via bonuses and promotions.
- Write to the company and ask for free SC.
- Receive free SC as a gift when you purchase standard Gold Coins.
Most sites allow you to redeem your SC for cash prizes or gift cards if you complete a 1x playthrough requirement. However, some sites, including Stake.us, impose a 3x playthrough requirement.
You can normally redeem them at a rate of one SC to $1. The minimum cash prize redemption is typically 100 SC or 50 SC, which equates to $100 or $50, respectively. The site will then transfer the funds to you via online banking or Skrill.
These sites and apps are legal in California. When you play games with SC, you are essentially taking part in sweepstakes. Other examples of legal sweepstakes include the McDonald’s Monopoly game or the Kellogg’s Salute to the Military Sweepstakes.
California online casinos to avoid
Sites like WOW Vegas and Pulsz adhere to state and federal regulations, including the Fair Credit Billing Act and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. These laws are designed to ensure you receive a fair, secure experience.
You will not benefit from any consumer protection laws if you play at unregulated online casinos based overseas. These sites have no legal permission to operate in the United States, but they still target players in California.
Unfortunately, you cannot rely on them to treat you fairly, keep your data safe, or even to pay out if you win. Many Californians have been scammed after playing at unregulated, offshore online casinos, so it is best to avoid them and stick to regulated social and sweepstakes casinos instead.
The history of online gambling in California
Most forms of online gambling are illegal in California. There are a few exceptions:
- You can place pari-mutuel bets at online racebooks like TwinSpires, TVG, and FanDuel Racing.
- Social casinos like WOW Vegas and social sportsbooks like Fliff also operate legally in California.
- Daily fantasy sports apps like DraftKings and FanDuel accept customers in the Golden State too, although they have never been explicitly permitted to do so. They operate in what is known as a “legal gray area.”
However, online casinos, sportsbooks, poker rooms, and lottery games have not been legalized in California. There have been no concerted efforts to legalize CA online casinos, but a high-profile attempt to bring legal online sports betting to California ended in failure back in 2022.
The country’s leading online sportsbooks gathered enough signatures to place a sports betting measure on the 2022 ballot. Proposition 27 attempted to legalize online and in-person California sports betting in California via a constitutional amendment.
However, a large number of California’s Native American tribes opposed the proposition, fearing that online sportsbooks would jeopardize the revenue they earn from their tribal casinos. They placed a separate measure, Proposition 26, on the ballot, which aimed to legalize in-person sports betting at tribal casinos and racetracks only.
The rival factions spent approximately $460 million promoting their measures and attacking the rival initiatives in a series of ad campaigns. Voters were left confused, and they overwhelmingly voted “no” to both propositions.
Future outlook
California could still legalize online sportsbooks and casinos in the future. Tribal leaders have said “sports betting is going to happen” in the Golden State.
Indian Gaming Association conference chair Victor Rocha believes that online sports wagering could begin in California in 2028, with the tribes controlling the market. Companies like FanDuel have started outreach efforts, and have hired executives with tribal expertise.
Johnny Hernandez Jr., vice chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, has said that online sports betting will “eventually lead into iGaming.” However, online casinos are unlikely to be legalized in the immediate future, so sites like WOW Vegas, Pulsz, and McLuck should remain popular in California for several years.
Types of casino games available in California
Sites like Pulsz, Stake.us, and McLuck offer a wide range of games in California. They fall into four broad categories.
Slots
You can play online slots with Gold Coins or Sweeps Coins at every social and sweepstakes casino in California. The best sites source their online slots from the same studios that supply real money online casinos in states like Michigan and New Jersey, such as NetEnt and Novomatic.
They include classic three-reel slots, bonus buy slots, Megaways slots, progressive jackpot slots, and much more. These games are similar to the physical slot machines in tribal casinos and Las Vegas casinos, but online slots tend to have higher return-to-player rates.
Virtual table games
Virtual table games are available at certain sites. You can play online blackjack, baccarat, roulette, and poker-style games, such as Casino Hold’em or Caribbean Stud. These games are powered by random number generators, which undergo testing for fairness and accuracy.
Live dealer games
Some sites and apps allow you to play online live dealer games in California. They include High 5 Casino, McLuck, and Stake.us. Online roulette, blackjack, baccarat, Teen Patti, Sic Bo, and Casino Hold’em are all available with live dealers.
You will be connected with a real dealer based in a dedicated studio or a casino. That means you can watch the cards being dealt or the wheel spinning in real time, and you can interact with the dealer and other players, too.
Variety games
Players will also find variety games at social casinos like Pulsz and Stake.us. Examples include bingo, keno, online scratchers, and arcade-style games such as Plinko, Mines, Crash, HiLo, and Dice.
Payment methods at California online casinos
You cannot make deposits at sites like WOW Vegas and McLuck in California. However, you can purchase Gold Coins. If you decide to make a purchase, you will often receive free Sweeps Coins as a gift.
These are the payment methods available at the top California online casino options:
- Credit card: Most sites allow you to buy coins with a credit card. Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express are widely available options.
- Debit card: Some credit card providers will treat payments at online casinos as cash advances, which can incur a fee, so you may find it more cost-effective to use a debit card instead.
- Online banking: Most social casinos allow you to purchase coins via an online bank transfer. You can also redeem cash prizes via online banking if you unlock Sweeps Coins and successfully meet the playthrough requirement.
- Skrill: This is typically the only e-wallet available at social and sweepstakes casinos, as they do not support PayPal or Venmo payments. Skrill is often the fastest prize redemption method, too.
- Crypto: You can use crypto, such as Bitcoin, for purchases at a few social casinos, including Stake.us and Chanced Casino.
Land-based California casinos
There are 69 tribal casinos in the Golden State, according to the California Gambling Control Commission. They operate under tribal-state gambling compacts, governed by the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
California’s tribal casinos support more than 184,000 jobs and deliver an annual economic impact of $34.56 billion, according to the American Gaming Association. They range from enormous resorts like Pechanga Casino to simple lodges that host fewer than 100 slot machines.
These are the largest tribal casinos in California:
- Yaamava’ Resort & Casino at San Manuel: This tribal casino is home to more than 7,000 slot machines, a huge selection of live gaming tables, and a poker room. The gambling space is 290,000 square feet, and there is also a luxury hotel, a theater, and six restaurants within the resort.
- Pechanga Resort & Casino: This was California’s largest casino until Yaamava’ Resort reopened in 2021. Pechanga has a 200,000-square-foot gambling floor, which features around 7,000 slots and hundreds of table games. There is also a poker room, a bingo room, an off-track betting parlor, 13 restaurants, a hotel, a golf course, and two entertainment centers.
- Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa: The Morongo Band of Mission Indians runs this casino, which has more than 4,000 slot machines inside a 150,000-square-foot gambling area. Visitors can also head to the poker room or the high-stakes bingo room at this resort, which is located 90 minutes from Los Angeles at the foothills of the San Gorgonio and San Jacinto mountains.
There are also 89 cardrooms in California, according to CGCC figures. These cardrooms cannot offer slot machines, roulette, or craps, but they do offer games like blackjack, baccarat, and Three Card Poker, along with poker tournaments and cash games.
Many cardrooms are modest operations, but there are some high-profile venues, too. For example, The Commerce Casino in Los Angeles is the largest cardroom in the world, with 240 tables available. You can play a huge variety of table games there, and it also hosts famous poker tournaments such as the Los Angeles Poker Classic and the California State Poker Championship.
Responsible gambling in California
There are many resources in California for those seeking information about responsible gambling or help with problem gambling.
The California Department of Public Health is a comprehensive resource for people looking for help with problem gambling. The website provides support through talk, text and online chat as well as links to treatment services, informational videos and more.
Additionally, the California Council on Problem Gambling has information for affected families, youth, professionals and problem gamblers. The site can help connect those in need to counselors, therapists, residential treatment facilities, intensive outpatient treatment and support groups.
Explore More
Legal Sports Report provides comprehensive information on the regulated sports betting and casino market. Read more about online casinos and sports betting apps in legal markets.
California online casino FAQ
While traditional online casinos are not legal in California, there are legal apps you can play for fun. The social casino and sweeps apps above provide online slots and table games with a variety of user experiences and bonuses.
There are no traditional legal online sports betting or casino apps available in California. However, social casino and sweeps apps are available in the state.
Some poker-style games are available in California on social casino and sweeps apps, but there are no legal online poker sites in the state.
Live dealer games allow the player to interact with a human dealer in real-time as the game is streamed live to customers.
There are online casino and sports betting sites in California that claim to accept real money deposits while operating legally. However, as online gambling is not legal in California, these sites operate outside US laws without a license.