Self-exclusion in California

How to put yourself on California's self-exclusion list, what it covers, and what it does not.

1 of 12 things on this page could not be confirmed from an official source. They are marked, and each one says who to ask. We would rather leave a gap than fill it with a guess.

Programme: Two distinct things, and the difference matters. (1) The Self-Exclusion Program, run by the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Gambling Control, which 'administers a confidential list of Self-Excluded patrons' using form CGCC-CH7-05 'Self-Exclusion Request'. This is the statewide one. (2) A Self-Restriction Program, which licensees are separately required to administer: 'Self-Restriction is an irrevocable, voluntary agreement to have restricted access to specific gambling establishments, or to the issuance of credit, check cashing, or marketing, from a particular licensed cardroom.' Self-restriction is held by the individual cardroom, not by the state - 'All Self-Restriction forms are kept and maintained within individual cardrooms' - and its periods 'can vary from 30 days, 90 days, 1 year, or lifetime' at the cardroom's choice.oag.ca.gov, checked 3 October 2026
Covers online betting: Not confirmed. The Bureau's self-exclusion pages, its self-exclusion FAQ and the current form CGCC-CH7-05 are all silent on internet gambling. They speak only of 'gambling establishments' and of attempting 'to enter' premises, and the disclaimer on form CGCC-CH7-05 (https://www.cgcc.ca.gov/documents/forms/CGCC-CH7-05_Self-Exclusion_Request_New0520.pdf) reads 'This request applies to all gambling establishments licensed by the California Gambling Control Commission.' That is a statement about licensed premises; it says nothing either way about online operators, so we will not record a yes or a no. If online gambling is your problem, do not assume this list reaches it - ring the Bureau's Exclusion Program on (916) 830-1700 and ask, and in the meantime close accounts with each operator directly and put a gambling block on your card. Check with California Department of Justice, Bureau of Gambling Control, Exclusion Program, 2450 Del Paso Road, Sacramento, CA 95834. Telephone (916) 830-1700, email BGCEMS@doj.ca.gov. Forms are published by the California Gambling Control Commission..oag.ca.gov, checked 3 October 2026
Covers casinos and shops: Yes for cardrooms, and this is the carve-out that catches almost everyone: 'Self-Excluded patrons are banned from all licensed gambling establishments in the State of California. A licensed gambling establishment does not include Tribal Casino's or Horse Racing wagering facilities.' So the statewide list covers California's licensed cardrooms and nothing else. The tribal casinos - which are most of the large casino floors in California - and the horse racing wagering facilities are both outside it. If you are self-excluded and go into a cardroom, the establishment must remove you from the premises and report the incident to the Bureau, and unredeemed jackpots or prizes are confiscated and sent to the California Department of Public Health, Office of Problem Gambling - see the note for the Bureau's exact words.Note the wording difference between two of the Bureau's own pages. The Exclusion Program landing page cited here excludes both 'Tribal Casino's or Horse Racing wagering facilities'; the Self-Exclusion sub-page omits the horse racing half and says only 'A licensed gambling establishment does not include Tribal Casino's.' Neither page claims to cover either, so the broader carve-out is the safe reading, but if racetrack betting is what you need stopped, confirm it on (916) 830-1700 rather than relying on the shorter sentence. The two enforcement sentences behind this answer are on that sub-page (https://oag.ca.gov/gambling/exclusion_self) rather than the landing page: 'If an active Self-Exclusion patron enters a gambling establishment for any reason, the establishment is required to remove the patron from the premises and notify the Bureau of the incident', and if a patron is playing in a gambling establishment, 'their unredeemed jackpots or prizes are confiscated and sent to the California Department of Public Health, Office of Problem Gambling'.oag.ca.gov, checked 3 October 2026
Covers the lottery: No. Neither the Bureau's exclusion pages nor the form mention the California Lottery, and the Lottery is a separate agency that runs no equivalent scheme: its own Responsible Gaming page sets out player warnings, helpline promotion on products and playslips, employee and retailer training, age verification, odds disclosure, submission limits on 2nd Chance games and advertising standards - and no self-exclusion, self-ban or voluntary exclusion of any kind.calottery.com, checked 3 October 2026
How long you can choose: One year or lifetime - only two options. The current form CGCC-CH7-05 (New 05/20) has a single 'SECTION 2: EXCLUSION REQUEST' asking you to initial a 'Requested Term' of either 'ONE YEAR' or 'LIFETIME'. There is no five-year option and no three-year option, and the words FIVE YEARS appear nowhere on the form.The Bureau's own pages agree on the two terms: both https://oag.ca.gov/gambling/exclusion and https://oag.ca.gov/gambling/exclusion_self say that the term specified on a patron's form 'can be 1 year or lifetime'. If you find a California self-exclusion form offering a five-year term, it is an obsolete one: the Commission's 2006 regulatory package carried form CGCC-037, which offered one year, five years or lifetime, while the form in use now, CGCC-CH7-05 (New 05/20), offers two. Use the current form from the Commission's forms page.cgcc.ca.gov, checked 3 October 2026
Can it be undone: A one-year term cannot be ended early: the Bureau states plainly that '1 year Self-Exclusion terms are irrevocable.' A lifetime term is not quite permanent, but the route out is slow and deliberate: 'Removal from a lifetime term will require that the Self-Excluded person has currently been on the Self-Exclusion term for a minimum of 1 year prior to requesting removal', and it requires form CGCC-CH7-06, which the Bureau tells you to 'submit the form with an original signature by mail.' Two things on that form are worth knowing before you count on getting back in: your removal is not effective until the Department of Justice has acknowledged it, and a cardroom is not obliged to let you back in to gamble - see the note for both.Three of the sentences behind this answer sit on documents other than the page cited for this field. The Bureau's Self-Exclusion sub-page adds that 'all Self-Exclusion terms are irrevocable for the duration of their minimum term' (https://oag.ca.gov/gambling/exclusion_self). The removal form itself, CGCC-CH7-06 (https://www.cgcc.ca.gov/documents/forms/CGCC-CH7-06_Self-Exclusion_Removal_Request_New0520.pdf), is where the two cautions are spelled out, both as declarations you sign: removal 'will not be effective until I have received an acknowledgement from the Department of Justice, Bureau of Gambling Control', and 'a cardroom business licensee is not required to allow me re-admittance for the purpose of gambling, at its sole discretion.'oag.ca.gov, checked 3 October 2026
What happens when it ends: It does not end by itself - you have to file a form to come off, and the removal only bites once the Bureau acknowledges it. The removal form CGCC-CH7-06 is a declaration that 'I voluntarily seek to remove myself from the list of self-excluded persons', and it states that 'my removal from the list of self-excluded persons will not be effective until I have received an acknowledgement from the Department of Justice, Bureau of Gambling Control.' For a one-year term the Bureau does warn you it is coming: it says it will notify the patron of the term expiration before the expiration date - see the note.California is the opposite of New York here, and the distinction is the whole reason this is its own field. In New York a term lapses automatically and you must re-file to stay excluded. In California there is an affirmative removal step - a signed paper form posted to the Bureau, effective only on acknowledgement - so reaching the end of a one-year term does not by itself put you back in the cardrooms. The Bureau's notification promise is on its Self-Exclusion sub-page rather than on the removal form cited for this field: 'If a patron chooses the 1 year term, the Bureau will also notify the patron of the term expiration prior to the expiration date.' (https://oag.ca.gov/gambling/exclusion_self) What the Bureau's pages do not spell out is whether a one-year entry is administratively dropped from the list at the expiry date even if you never file the removal form; the notification sentence hints at it without saying it. We have not been able to confirm that either way, so if staying excluded past a year matters to you, ring (916) 830-1700 and ask whether your name stays on the list until you file CGCC-CH7-06 - and consider choosing lifetime instead, since lifetime demonstrably does not expire.cgcc.ca.gov, checked 3 October 2026
How you sign up: Either online or on paper, and there is no notary requirement if you can get a cardroom to witness it. Online: the Bureau's Self-Exclusion Online Registration at https://ems.doj.ca.gov/selfExclusionHome.action. On paper: complete form CGCC-CH7-05 and post it to the Bureau of Gambling Control, P.O. Box 168024, Sacramento, CA 95816-8024, telephone (916) 830-1700. The form asks for a full physical description, driver's licence or ID number, vehicle make, model and licence plate, and requires you to 'AFFIX A RECENT PASSPORT QUALITY PHOTOGRAPH HERE SHOWING HEAD AND SHOULDERS OF PERSON TO BE EXCLUDED'. On witnessing, the Bureau's FAQ is helpfully relaxed: asked whether the forms must be both notarised and witnessed by a key employee of a licensed gambling establishment, it answers that only one or the other is required - see the note.The witnessing answer is on the Bureau's Self-Exclusion and Self-Restriction FAQ (https://oag.ca.gov/gambling/faq_exself), not on the form cited for this field. Asked 'Do the Self-Exclusion/Self-Restriction forms have to be both notarized and witnessed by a key employee of a licensed gambling establishment?', the Bureau answers: 'Only one or the other is required. This is done as a way to verify the patron's identity.'cgcc.ca.gov, checked 3 October 2026

Start California's form

Worth knowing before you start

California's statewide list is narrower than its name suggests, and that is the thing to understand before you file. It covers licensed cardrooms. It does not cover tribal casinos, and it does not cover horse racing wagering facilities, because the Bureau's definition of a licensed gambling establishment excludes both - the exact wording, and a difference between two of the Bureau's pages, is set out under covers_retail. In a state where the biggest casino floors are tribal, a person who files this form and believes they are now shut out of gambling in California has been seriously misled by the word 'statewide'. If a tribal casino is where you gamble, you need that casino's or that tribe's own exclusion process, which this list has nothing to do with. Then there is the second programme, which is easy to confuse with the first: self-restriction is a deal with one named cardroom, held in that cardroom's filing cabinet, for a period that cardroom chooses from 30 days, 90 days, one year or lifetime. It can also be used more narrowly than a full ban - to cut off credit, check cashing or marketing rather than access. It is useful, but it is not a statewide anything. Three practical details. The enrolment burden is low by national standards: you can register online, and where a paper form is used the Bureau accepts either a notary or a key employee of a gambling establishment as witness, not both. The consequences of breaching are real: you will be removed from the premises, the incident is reported to the Bureau, your winnings or recovered losses are confiscated and sent to the Office of Problem Gambling, and the Bureau then alerts other local establishments that a self-excluded person has been seen gambling. And getting back in is not automatic even after you file for removal - the cardroom retains an absolute discretion to refuse you re-admittance.

Done? The rest of the hour: blockers, a bank block, closing the accounts, telling one person.

Every fact on this page was read from an official source and dated. The oldest of them was checked on 3 October 2026. Tell us if something here is wrong.