You may have heard of UIGEA or Black Friday, but those events do not make your favorite pastime a crime. Neither Federal law nor California state law prohibit citizens from partaking in real money online poker games. Whether it is politicians angling for more kickbacks, Native American Indian tribes battling amongst themselves for carve-outs, or special interest lobbying by existing poker sites hoping to get 'bad actor' clauses passed to keep the competition away, there just doesn't seem to be any consensus.įortunately, however, California online poker is not illegal. It seems that every time a bill comes up for negotiation, the established powers go to war and strike it down. Unfortunately, California has not managed to pass any state-wide regulation of poker online or any form of online gambling. With 39.5 million people calling themselves citizens of this great state, it is no surprise to learn that the largest amount of player traffic to US-friendly poker sites emanates from The Golden State. Additional ResourcesĬalifornia is the largest state in the Union by population, and it isn't even close.