Southern California Gambling Information

You don't have to take a side trip to Vegas to incorporate a little gambling in your Southern California vacation. Gambling is actually big business in Southern California, even though it's only kind of legal. We don't have anything like the Strip of Las Vegas, where ritzy casino hotel resorts line the street--but we do have some pretty nice gambling venues, including casinos, card rooms, horse tracks and offsite horse race wagering sites.

To learn more about Southern California gambling venues, jump to:

Casinos and card rooms in Southern California are heavily regulated. Casinos (the places with slot machines) are all owned by Native tribes; the tribes work closely with California's Bureau of Gambling Control to obtain licensing for table games and slots. Card rooms don't have to be Native American owned, but they do have to be licensed for each game they offer.

Horse racing is pretty much as it is in the rest of the world--and for some reason, betting at the track doesn't fall under California's gambling ban. In fact, thanks to the federal lawmakers, you don't even have to go to the track to bet on horses. In 1978, Congress passed the Interstate Horseracing Act, which allowed tracks to televise races offsite for wagering. In 2000, the industry got another big boost when the Act was expanded to allow for wagering via phone and Internet.

The kinds of gambling you won't find in Southern California include things like formal sports betting, dog racing and cock fighting. If you want sports betting, you'll have to head east to Nevada. And the other stuff you'll find south of the border in Mexico.