Delving into the growth of social casinos is a broad question, and many variables have contributed to their current success and the optimistic future projections that many people have for this subsector of the casino gaming industry. California is in a unique position economically; it is the biggest state in the U.S., eclipsing even the likes of New York and Texas. It can operate comfortably on its own and rarely requires oversight from central legislative bodies, due to the size of its economy.
Californian sweepstakes casinos
California is the biggest market in the U.S. for sweepstakes casino players. Since the state is reluctant to legalize the ever-growing online casino industry, sweepstakes have picked up the baton. They aim to appeal to Californian casino gamers who want to play roulette, slots or poker while staying within the strict legal framework that applies within state lines.
Sweepstakes can circumvent this strict legislation by offering games and using virtual currencies specific to the provider. For instance, gold coins are the most common, and you can receive a welcome bonus when you sign up for sweepstake casinos in California, such as Fortune Coins and WOW Vegas.
Sweepstakes casinos can operate legally and effectively by providing a platform to play casino games and removing the element of real-money wagering. By providing tangible prizes in addition to gold coins, they can maintain their status as free-to-play casinos without worrying about being dragged into regulatory grey areas.
Sweepstake casinos that step outside of the strict legislation governing them can face harsh penalties and find themselves banned from offering sweepstakes casino games to Californians.
Do Californians want to play at real casinos?
We imagine that there’s a decent percentage of Californian residents who would enjoy playing at a traditional online casino. However, there are alternatives that many seek out in addition to the sweepstakes casinos we discussed in the last section. Native American casinos are a multibillion-dollar industry, with an estimated $9 billion in taxes going to California state from these gambling reservations.
Californians can also bet on the lottery, with some of the biggest winners hailing from the Golden State. Ultimately, this is a finely tuned and balanced approach, which has meant that those who want to gamble can do so in small doses but don’t have access to the copious amounts of online casino tables that many American bettors are getting access to. However, given that there are avenues and many traditional, well-established ways to play casino games, there isn’t a huge drive to allow online casino gaming.
Is California an anti-gambling state?
This is a complex question; you could definitely argue that they’re on the stricter end of the scale, especially if you were to rank all U.S. states on how they online digital casino gaming, ranked from the least to most favorable. California is not an anti-gambling state in the same way Utah is, which adopts a much stricter approach, allowing no casino gaming or lotteries.
Of course, it’d be false to argue that California is not an anti-gambling state, given how strongly it has argued against allowing online casinos to be legally set up. While many of its citizens may enjoy a flutter or two if they travel to a state with less stringent laws, to proclaim a state with a dozen or so Native American casinos as an anti-gambling state wouldn’t be right either—it’s somewhere in the middle.
Will online casino gaming remain illegal in the Golden State?
Again, nobody can say for certain, but many factors mean that California does not need to rely on gambling in the same way that other states do. For instance, if you look at New Jersey, one of the first states to legalize online casino gaming, it has a much smaller and far less diverse economy. Given that it’s in the shadow of New York, the argument for legalizing gambling took a much different trajectory than it did when Californian governors and legislators were considering their options.
California regularly exceeds economic projections, consistently churning out more consistent growth and positive economic figures than the wider U.S.. Due to the fact it has such a range of genuinely global innovators that operate out of the state, ranging from Apple to Alphabet to Netflix, Californian legislators are more than happy to continue with the status quo.
Final thoughts
With a cluster of Native American reservation casinos, sweepstakes and lottery competitions more than enough to quench Californians’ gambling thirst, social casinos will remain the closest replica to online casinos. Sweepstakes can offer a similar experience, with live game environments that a traditional online casino offers. However, legislators are more than happy to keep it as it is.
Opening its doors to the complexities that arise from several million of its citizens suddenly being allowed to place real money wagers at online casinos for the first time requires a considerable framework and strategy. With the state already raking in over $200 billion a year in tax, there’s not much need to welcome online casinos; this is welcome news for social casinos in California that continue to expand.
