Where Can You Bet On Sports In California
California had a team in the Super Bowl the past two years, but neither the Rams or 49ers were able to bring the Super Bowl back to The Golden State. This year the Kansas City Chiefs will battle the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl 55, with the big game taking place this Sunday in Tampa, Florida.
The Super Bowl is consistently the most bet on single day sporting event in the United States each year. This year, with sport betting becoming more main stream, and having two exciting teams with superstar quarterbacks, I’m expecting above average betting on this years Super Bowl.
On this page I will recommend two top rated betting sites for California residents, touch on the legality of betting within the state, look at the odds for the most popular Super Bowl bets, and finish up with a simple 3 step guide to help California residents get Super Bowl bets placed online in minutes.
California Sports Betting It’s not hard to find a place to gamble in California. The state features almost 100 card rooms and more than 50 tribal California casinos. However, California is a house divided. How can I bet on Sports in California now? You cannot legally bet on sports in California. However, you can visit either Nevada or Oregon, where there is legal sports betting. Oregon uses the Lottery for its.
Top Sportsbooks For California Residents
- Built for American bettors
- Wide variety of competitive betting lines
- Easy to navigate betting platform
- Accepts players worldwide
- Competitive betting lines
- Fast & easy deposits and withdrawals (including Bitcoin)
Bovada and BetOnline are our top rated betting site for California residents. Both sites are focused on providing a great betting experience for Americans, and they are each popular and trusted across the country.
For the remainder of this guide I will be using our top rated betting site, Bovada.lv.
Super Bowl Betting in California
At this time, it’s not legal to operate a sportsbook inside the state of California.
That said, it’s not illegal for California residents to sign up and place bets at an offshore betting site that is licensed and regulated outside of the United States. Bovada fits into this category by being licensed and regulated in Panama. This allows Bovada to accept players from the majority of US States, including California.
Check out our California sports betting section to learn more about the sports betting climate in the state.
2021 Super Bowl Odds
Let’s take a look at the odds for a few of the popular bets you can make on Super Bowl 55 (odds taken February 6th).
Point Spread
The point spread is the most popular NFL bet during the regular season, and I’m expecting this to also be the case for the Super Bowl this year.
The Chiefs are 3 point favorites at Bovada, which means they must win by 4 or more to cover the spread. If the Buccaneers win the game or lose by 2 points or less, then a spread bet on the Bucs would win. It’s important to also notice the odds associated with each side of the spread. You must risk $115 to win $100 betting on the Chiefs -3, while you would have to risk $105 on the Bucs +3 to win $100. This is because the oddsmakers are stuck between the spread being 3 and 3.5.
To Win
The money line odds have the Chiefs as -160 favorites, which means a $160 bet on Kansas City to win the game would win $100 (pays $260).
The Buccaneers odds to win the game are +140, so a $100 bet on the Bucs wins $140 (pays $240).
Total
The total is set at 56 for the Super Bowl. If you think 57 or more points will be scored by both teams (combined) you should bet the over, and if you think 55 or fewer points will be scored you should bet the under. If exactly 56 points are scored the bets would push.
All of the above odds could change slightly on Super Bowl Sunday. To see the up to date odds head over to Bovada.lv and select ‘Super Bowl’ from the Quick Links section to see these odds and many more.
Where Can You Bet On Sports In California Right Now
There are also a ton of prop bets you can find on the Super Bowl at Bovada.
Bet On The Super Bowl in California – 3 Step Guide
Follow these 3 steps to get your Super Bowl bets placed.
Step 1. Join Bovada.lv
Click the above link to go to the Bovada website. Once there click ‘Join Now’ in the top right corner of the screen and complete the form to open your account.
Step 2. Deposit
After logging into your new account click the ‘Deposit’ button. Choose your preferred deposit method (Visa, MasterCard, bitcoin) and complete the instructions to make your deposit.
Your first deposit will earn you a 50% matching bonus up to $250. You will need to claim the bonus on the “My Rewards” page in your Bovada account.
Step 3. Place Your Super Bowl Bets
Click on ‘Sports’ from the top navigation bar, and select ‘Super Bowl LV’ in the ‘Quick Links’ section to bring up the Super Bowl betting lines. You can also select ‘Super Bowl Specials’ to see all of the prop betting options.
Select the bet(s) you want to make and enter your wager amounts on the Bet Slip. Click ‘Place Bets’ to lock in the wagers.
Here’s a screenshot showing some of the clicks:
Ready to bet? Click here to visit Bovada.lv.
Tagged With : California betting • Super Bowl
With the exception of the day after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, there’s a major sporting event every day of the year in this country. Whether your favorite sport is football, basketball, baseball, hockey, or even golf, there is always a game to watch. Sports fans know that this means there is no shortage of opportunities to make their favorite team’s matches a little more exciting.
The question is: Is it legal to place bets on sporting events in California?
A Complicated Answer (PC 337(a))
The legal authority that controls betting on sports is a tangled web of federal and state laws. Though many states allow casino gaming and have state lotteries, gambling on sports exists in its own tightly controlled legal world.
First, there is a difference in the law between the person placing the bet and the person accepting the bet. The law is not the same for both parties in many states. In California, it is not illegal to make a bet, but it is illegal to take a bet, or operate as a bookie under California Penal Code Section 337(a).
In 1992, the federal government passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a law that prohibited sports betting in all but the four states where it was already legal: Delaware, Montana, Oregon, and Nevada. Congress controls interstate commerce, so it can prevent states like California from passing laws that would legalize betting on sports.1
The Online Picture
Another federal law, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006, makes it a crime for an online operator of a gambling website to accept bets using money from residents of the United States, but does not make it a crime to place those bets. The federal government has already won legal battles against offshore casinos like PokerStars, which was ordered to pay $547 million in a settlement with the U.S. government in 2012.2
There are still a number of offshore companies that have found creative ways to avoid running afoul of the federal law, but the risk for bettors is always that the site they use could be shut down before they can collect any winnings.
However, there is also an exception in the UIGEA for simulated games such as fantasy sports leagues. If the bet requires “knowledge of the participants, or their skill at physical reaction or physical manipulation (but not chance), and, in the case of a fantasy or simulation sports game, has an outcome that is determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of sporting events,” the bet is legal.3
Point Shaving and Bribery of Officials
There are a couple of areas where the law is definitely clear. Under California Penal Code Section 337, it is illegal for any person to bribe a participant in any sporting event to “not use his or her best efforts to win.” In other words, it is illegal for a person and an athlete to agree to rig the outcome of a game, and both the person and the athlete can be punished by a term in state prison and by a maximum fine of $5,000.
The same holds true for a person who bribes a referee or umpire, and for the referee or umpire who accepts the bribe. In those cases, the person and the official can be fined up to $10,000, and sentenced to a term in either county jail or state prison.
Is My March Madness Pool Illegal?
With all these restrictions, you are probably left wondering whether buying squares in a Super Bowl pool or a betting on a bracket in the NCAA basketball tournament is going to be something for which you can be sent to jail.
The truth is, though taking bets is illegal, enforcement of the law against individuals or even small groups of people is extremely rare because most bets between friends only result in the winner making money, and not a person taking a cut of the winnings for organizing the bet. In fact, it is not unheard of for these types of pools to spring up even in the offices of district attorneys, who are more concerned with breaking up large-scale operations that have links to organized crime than your bet with your friends.4
Where Can You Bet On Sports In California Lottery
Contact the Attorneys at Wallin & Klarich to Learn More
Have questions about whether your gambling is violating the law? An experienced Wallin & Klarich attorney can help. We have been successfully defending people facing criminal charges for over 30 years. Contact us today for a free, no obligation consultation and let us help you, too.
With offices in Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks, Torrance, Tustin, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, West Covina and Victorville, there is an experienced Wallin & Klarich attorney near you, no matter where you work or live.
Can You Bet On Sports In California Casinos
Call us today at (877) 4-NO-JAIL or (877) 466-5245 for a free phone consultation. We will be there when you call.
Is It Legal To Bet On Sports In California
1. [Mark Anderson, “Odds Too Long for California Sports Betting Bill,” Sacramento Business Journal, June 4, 2013, available at: http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2013/06/04/california-sports-betting-bill-fails.html.]↩
2. [Nathan Vardi, “PokerStars Will Pay $731 Million To Settle U.S. Government Charges and Buy Full Tilt Poker,” Forbes, July 31, 2012, available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2012/07/31/pokerstars-will-pay-547-million-to-settle-u-s-government-charges-and-buy-full-tilt-poker/.]↩
3. [Chris Smith, “Why Is Gambling On Fantasy Football Legal?” Forbes, September 19, 2013, available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2012/09/19/should-gambling-on-fantasy-football-be-legal/.]↩
4. [Daniel Roberts, “Was My Sports Bet Legal?” Fortune, February 15, 2011, available at http://fortune.com/2011/02/15/was-my-sports-bet-legal/.]↩