Gambling law and policy, explainedAn independent publication from California
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What is legal in the nation's largest state, who regulates it and how the rules got that way.
California voters rejected both sports-betting measures in 2022, so horse racing remains the only legal way to bet on a sporting event in the state.
Photograph by Ken Lund via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
One measure kept sports betting inside tribal casinos and racetracks, the other put it on phones, and voters turned down both by wide margins.
Sept. 19, 2026
Poker clubs and card casinos in California run under different rules from Las Vegas, and a long legal fight with tribes keeps testing those limits.
Sept. 19, 2026
A 2025 law made dual-currency sweepstakes casinos illegal to run in California, while free social casino games with no cash prizes stay outside the ban.
Sept. 19, 2026
The minimum age in California depends on the game and the venue, from lottery tickets at 18 to cardroom poker at 21, with tribal casinos in between.
Sept. 19, 2026
The Lottery Act, a 2010 amendment and Proposition 20 decide how each ticket dollar is split, and schools get a smaller slice than many assume.
Sept. 19, 2026
Every legal horse bet in California goes into a state-regulated pool, whether it is placed at the track, a fairground satellite or an online account.
