Poker in California: 78 licensed cardrooms, no online poker yet

California is the largest live poker market in the world and the one that has never managed to legalise online poker: bill after bill has died in Sacramento over tribal, cardroom and racetrack interests. So Californians play live, in the cardrooms of Los Angeles, Sacramento and the Bay Area, and online through sweepstakes rooms. This page is built from the state's own licence register, read on 6 October 2026.

How many cardrooms does California have?

The California Gambling Control Commission's register of gambling establishments listed 78 licensed cardrooms on 6 October 2026, with 2,243 gambling tables authorised between them. Two caveats matter before you read that number as a map of where to play.

First, 22 of the 78 were marked as licensed but not currently operating — 114 authorised tables that exist only on paper. A licence on the register is not a room with the lights on. We publish those entries too, because a verified "this one is not open" is worth more than a guess.

Second, the figure is heavily concentrated. Hawaiian Gardens Casino and Commerce Casino are each licensed for 374 tables and Parkwest Bicycle Casino for 250, so roughly 44% of every authorised table in California sits at three Los Angeles-area addresses. The median licensed cardroom is in the low teens.

What the table counts actually count

A California cardroom licence authorises a number of gambling tables, not a number of poker tables. California cardrooms may not bank a game themselves, but they are permitted to spread California-style card games — blackjack and baccarat variants in which a licensed third-party proposition player, rather than the house, covers the bets. Those tables sit on the same licence as the player-banked poker. So a room licensed for 50 tables may run far fewer than 50 poker tables on any given night, and the split differs from room to room. Check the venue's own live game list before you travel.

Tribal casinos — Thunder Valley, Pechanga, Graton and the rest — are licensed under a separate framework and do not appear on this register at all, so they are not in the 78.

Is online poker legal in California?

No regulated real-money online poker exists in California, and after a string of failed bills between 2008 and 2016 none is currently before the legislature. Sweepstakes poker is the alternative: ClubWPT Gold accepts California residents from 18, playing with Gold Coins and redeeming Sweeps Coins for prizes with no purchase necessary. Offshore sites operate outside state law and we do not list them. This is general information, not legal advice.

Where the live games are

Los Angeles County holds the densest cluster of tables anywhere in the world: Commerce Casino, Parkwest Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, Hawaiian Gardens, Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Crystal Casino in Compton, and the two Gardena rooms, Hustler Casino and Larry Flynt's Lucky Lady. The Bay Area runs through Bay 101 and Casino M8trix in San Jose, Lucky Chances in Colma, Artichoke Joe's in San Bruno, Oaks Card Club in Emeryville and Palace Poker in Hayward. Sacramento County carries the state's second-densest cluster, including Capitol Casino, Parkwest Casino Lotus and the two separately licensed halves of Stones Gambling Hall in Citrus Heights. Club One in Fresno and Golden West in Bakersfield anchor the Central Valley; Ocean's Eleven in Oceanside and Seven Mile in Chula Vista cover San Diego County.

The minimum age at California cardrooms is 21.

Events

The WPT LA Poker Classic at Commerce (January to March), the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star in San Jose, the Legends of Poker at The Bike and the WPT Rolling Thunder at Thunder Valley are the state's marquee stops.