Gambling Illegal In California

All forms of California gambling laws must be approved by voters through a constitutional amendment. Every form of legal gambling in California went through this process that includes a statewide referendum. Most forms of illegal gambling are guilty of a misdemeanor. Horseracing was the first form of betting permitted in California. California Senator Bill Dodd, a sponsor of the legislation that would legalize sports betting in the nation’s most-populous state, said he was pulling the bill because of opposition from tribal.

Legal forms of gambling in the U.S. state of California include cardrooms, Indian casinos, the California State Lottery, parimutuel wagering on horse racing, and charitable gaming. Commercial casino-style gaming is prohibited.

Cardrooms[edit]

Licensed cardrooms may offer approved card games in which players vie against each other (rather than against the house), such as poker.[1] As of 2019, there were 66 cardrooms operating in the state (and another 21 licensed but not operating).[2] Since 1995, there has been a moratorium on new cardrooms.[3][4] The industry generated $850 million in revenue after payouts in 2018.[3]

Non-banked card games such as poker have always been legal in the state.[5] The California Penal Code, enacted in 1872, prohibited several casino games by name, as well as all house-banked games, but did not outlaw poker.[6] Cardrooms also operate non-banked versions of card games such as Pai Gow Poker, where players can take turns playing the dealer hand against the other players.[7] Statewide cardroom regulations were enacted in 1984.[8] In 1997, the Gambling Control Act was adopted, which created the California Gambling Control Commission to regulate California cardrooms.[8]

Charitable gaming[edit]

Eligible nonprofit organizations may operate bingo games,[9]raffles,[10] and poker nights.[11] Organizations are limited to one poker night per year.[11]

State voters in 1976 approved a constitutional amendment allowing counties and cities to legalize charitable bingo.[12][13] An amendment to allow charitable raffles passed in 2000, and enabling legislation went into effect in 2001.[14][15] Legislation allowing poker night fundraisers took effect in 2007.[16][17]

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Parimutuel wagering[edit]

Parimutuel wagering on horse racing is permitted at racetracks and satellite wagering facilities, and online through advance-deposit wagering providers.[18][19] Extended racing meets are held throughout the year at five tracks: Cal Expo, Del Mar, Golden Gate Fields, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita.[20] Four other fairgrounds tracks hold brief meets in the summer and early fall.[20] There are 27 satellite wagering facilities throughout the state, most of them found at county fairgrounds, cardrooms, and tribal casinos.[21] Racing and wagering is regulated by the California Horse Racing Board.[22] As of 2018, the annual amount wagered on California races was $3.2 billion, with $662 million retained after payouts.[23]

Is Online Gambling Illegal In California

Horse race wagering was legalized by voter referendum in 1933.[24] Satellite wagering was first legalized at fairgrounds in 1985,[25] and was expanded to private facilities in 2008.[26] Advance-deposit wagering became legal in 2002.[27]

Indian gaming[edit]

Federally recognized tribes can operate casinos under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. As of 2019, there were 63 casinos operated by 61 different tribes.[28] The industry generates approximately $8 billion in annual revenue after payouts.[3] Pursuant to tribal-state compacts negotiated with the state, tribes with larger casinos share a portion of their revenues with non-gaming or limited gaming tribes (those with fewer than 350 slot machines).[29]

Lottery[edit]

The California State Lottery offers scratchcards and draw games, including the multi-state Powerball and Mega Millions games.[30]

The Lottery was approved by voter referendum in 1984 and sold its first tickets in 1985.[31]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Charlene Wear Simmons (May 2006). Gambling in the Golden State 1998 Forward(PDF) (Report). California State Library. p. 107. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  2. ^'Active Gambling Establishments in California'. California Gambling Control Commission. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  3. ^ abc'Overview of Gambling in California'(PDF). Legislative Analyst's Office. February 2019. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  4. ^SB 654: Local moratorium: Gambling tables(PDF) (Report). Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization. June 21, 2017. p. 2. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  5. ^Analysis of AB 317 (Report). Office of Senate Floor Analyses. 1999. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  6. ^Tibbetts v. Van de Kamp, 222 Cal. App. 3d 392, 393-94 (1990).
  7. ^Cal. Penal Code Sec. 330.11; Bell Gardens v. City of Los Angeles, 231 Cal. App .3d 1563, 1568 (1991); California Gambling Law Resources
  8. ^ ab'Bureau of Gambling Control'. Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  9. ^Charlie LeDuff (November 25, 2002). 'California bingo hall plays on world stage'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  10. ^'Raffles'. Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  11. ^ ab'Nonprofit Organization Gambling Fundraiser Registration Program'. Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  12. ^Joseph R. Grodin; Michael B. Salerno; Darien Shanske (2015). The California State Constitution. Oxford University Press. pp. 166–167.
  13. ^'Opinion No. 96-1011'(PDF). Office of the Attorney General of California. December 31, 1998. p. 2.
  14. ^Michael Gardner (July 17, 2000). 'Raffles leave lawmakers in quandary'. San Diego Union-Tribune – via NewsBank.
  15. ^Andy Bruno; Steve Chae (May 29, 2001). 'New law on raffles effective soon'. San Jose Mercury News – via NewsBank.
  16. ^Gina Faridniya (August 25, 2006). 'State may OK casino nights Bill to let charities hold games sent to governor'. Ventura County Star – via NewsBank.
  17. ^Vic Pollard (January 1, 2007). 'State's new laws go into effect'. The Bakersfield Californian – via NewsBank.
  18. ^'Horse Racing and California Fairs'(PDF). California Authority of Racing Fairs. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  19. ^'Advance Deposit Wagering'. California Horse Racing Board. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  20. ^ ab'2019 Racing Schedule'. California Horse Racing Board. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  21. ^'Simulcast Facilities'. California Horse Racing Board. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  22. ^'CHRB Mission Statement'. California Horse Racing Board. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  23. ^48th Annual Report of the California Horse Racing Board(PDF) (Report). California Horse Racing Board. 2018. p. 45. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  24. ^Hank Wesch (July 29, 1987). 'Track survived hard times to flourish'. San Diego Union-Tribune – via NewsBank.
  25. ^Jeff Meyers (October 2, 1991). 'Horse latitude: Ventura Fairgrounds provides alternative to track betting'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  26. ^Jack Shinar (December 15, 2010). 'California sports bar to open mini-satellite'. The Blood-Horse. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  27. ^Don Thompson (August 26, 2002). 'Remote wagering slow but steady in California'. Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  28. ^'Ratified Tribal-State Gaming Compacts (New and Amended)'. California Gambling Control Commission. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  29. ^David Olson (April 27, 2015). 'Tribal casinos: From poverty to payday'. The Press-Enterprise. Riverside, CA. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  30. ^'Play Overview'. California State Lottery. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  31. ^Robert Crabbe (September 28, 1986). 'California lottery meets with success, ambivalence'. UPI. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
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California Penal Code Section 330

Illegal Gambling California Penal Code

It is illegal to be a dealer in a game that is not sanctioned for gambling. The illegality comes in when someone is collecting money as people gamble similar to how Vegas does it and the various other casinos even throughout Los Angeles County.

Obviously, the more people involved, the more money involved, the more likely the authorities will find out about it and actually do something about it. They will prosecute the person pursuant to Penal Code Section 330 and that person can be looking at up to six months in the County jail.

When it comes to illegal gambling and the prosecutors and police enforcing illegal gambling in Los Angeles County by way of Penal Code Section 330, they’re not really looking to prosecute people who are just playing recreationally with their friends.

For example, a Tuesday night poker game or other game where people are getting together – even though money is being exchanged, this is not the police’s target when it comes to illegal gambling.

They’re looking at stopping those games where the public is able to come in and play, somebody’s collecting either a percentage of the money, or a dealer is getting some of the money or the house is sanctioning the game, because usually what ends up happening in those scenarios is in addition to illegal gambling, other types of crimes are being committed like prostitution and illegal use of drugs, so that’s where I’m seeing – over the course of the last twenty-five years of dealing with these gambling and gaming cases – the police actually coming in.

Somebody gets busted with drugs for example. In order to help themselves get themselves off, they then tell the police that there’s an illegal gaming or gambling area in order to get the police to not prosecute them for their illegal activity.

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So, ultimately, these illegal gambling locations get busted up, people get arrested, and obviously, you need an attorney. And they’re not just going to arrest the house or the people who are getting the percentage of the money, they’re going to arrest everybody in there who is involved in the gambling.

Defenses to Illegal Gambling Pursuant to Penal Code Section 330

One defense that can be asserted when it comes to illegal gambling is that you were not actually involved in the illegal gambling.

I’ve had a number of clients who were arrested who were just present at a house for example where this illegal gambling was going on and the authorities scooped them up in a broad net and charged them with illegal gambling, but the reality is they didn’t have any evidence that they were violating Penal Code Section 330 and all they had was evidence that they were present at a location where illegal gaming or gambling was going on.

Mere presence at a crime is not in and of itself enough to prosecute somebody for illegal gambling. Other defenses would include that it’s just a game for fun with your friends. Nobody’s getting a percentage of the money.

Yes, money is being taken – people are winning and losing money – but there’s no house so to speak where a dealer or somebody else is getting a portion of all the gambling that’s going on. That’s really what’s being targeted when it comes to illegal gambling in California, and specifically in Los Angeles.

So, most of the time the authorities aren’t even going to get involved if it’s just small stakes and it’s a meeting among friends. The question becomes how they even found out about it to get involved.

Where the problems come in once again is when people are advertising, so to speak, in a gaming where there’s other criminal activity going on such as prostitution, illegal drug us, illegal drug sale- once you start getting into that ballpark where people are profiting and doing other illegal not moral activities, that’s typically when the police are going to find out in Los Angeles and they’re going to swoop in and they’re going to come and arrest everybody.

Even if they let some people go – just the fact that they swooped in, broke the game up and arrested a bunch of people – lets everybody know in that area we’re not going to stand for this type of activity here and if you do it you’re going to be prosecuted and arrested.

So, if you’ve been swept up in one of these nets, obviously you want to try to keep your record clean if it’s possible. You need to get a California criminal defense attorney, come in, sit down, we’ll go over everything in the privacy of my office and then we’ll come up with a game plan on how we can resolve your matter and protect your rights, your freedom and your reputation.

For more information on Illegal Gaming Or Gambling In California, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (213) 374-3952 today.

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