California voters are likely to see one or more initiatives on that subject this November sponsored by various special interests. In California, however, legislation to create a regulated online gambling industry has been stalled amid tussling by the state’s card rooms, its tribes, sports leagues and Nevada casinos over what to allow and where to allow it. The Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling shifted the tide dramatically, and now 30 states have at least some kinds of legal sports betting within their borders. Three of the companies remain in business, although they have stayed out of states where online poker isn’t legal. In 20, federal prosecutors brought charges against four major foreign online poker sites, successfully prosecuting a number of their executives.

But it’s clearly against the law.”įederal laws, such as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and the Illegal Gambling Business Act, bar gaming sites from operating in states that prohibit gambling. Obviously, nobody ever gets arrested for making bets on sports events. “It makes it a crime - a misdemeanor - to accept, record or even make a bet on a sports event. Nelson Rose, a gambling law scholar and emeritus professor at Whittier College. “California state law is probably the broadest in the country” when it comes to restricting gambling, said I.