Colorado Casinos and Gambling

Short Summary: Colorado, is extremely liberal when it comes to gambling laws. In addition to land-based casinos with full offerings, the state has legal and regulated charitable gambling, live and simulcast racing wagering and lottery. The only thing they presently lack are sports books as well as any legalized and regulated form of Internet gambling, but we expect those to be coming soon and in that order.

Colorado casinos were legalized in 1990 in select areas that had been traditional gold mining towns. The first casino was opened in 1991. 11 Casinos opened by the end of 1991, and in late 1992 you could find over 70 casinos spread throughout the legalized areas. Today there are just fewer than 40 remaining casinos.

Colorado is easily one of the most liberal states when it comes to gambling, as all forms of gambling are legalized, regulated and in place with exceptions to online gambling and sports betting. With that, Colorado has the following types of gambling available:

Charitable
Pari-Mutuel
Lottery
Casinos (Commercial)
Casinos (Tribal)

Other than flat fees for Charitable Gambling of 3% of all revenues, Colorado has a sliding scale of how much it taxes revenues for casinos. The way this scale works is that the amount increases as the casinos make more money. Here it is:

Charitable Events 3.00%
$0 – $2 Million 0.25%
$2 – $5 million 2.00%
$5 – $8 million 9.00%
$8 – $10 million 11.00%
$10 – $13 million 16.00%
$13+ million 20.00%

These are amongst the lowest taxes on casino revenues in the country, especially for casinos that bring in less than five million dollars annually and/or on the first five million dollars annually. In terms of percentage, this tax is well under those of Nevada who tax casinos at roughly 6.75% with an additional 1% in fees for a total of 7.75%:

In fact, the effective tax rate for a Colorado casino making eight million dollars exactly would look like this:

(2000000 * .0025) + (3000000 * .02) + (3000000 * .09) = 335000

335000/8000000 = .041875 or 4.1875%

Therefore, a casino that brings in $8,000,000 in a year, or a casino that makes their first eight million, still pays a much lower effective tax rate on those revenues than Nevada casinos.

If we add in the $220,000 tax from the 8M-10M level, then we end up with a total of $555,000 paid in taxes, which still comes out to only 5.50% effective tax rate.

Even when the casino makes its next thirteen million in revenue, which is a tax amount of $480,000 on the next three million, that is still only a total of $815,000 paid in taxes, which represents an effective tax rate of 6.27% (rounded), which is lower than Nevada.

It is only between the fourteen and fifteen million mark that the casino tax exceeds that of Nevada.

The Colorado Lottery is also offered to citizens and anyone visiting the state, and as with others, it is linked to the multi-state jackpots of Powerball and Mega Millions.

The State of Colorado also seems to have its legalized and regulated Commercial Casinos compete on perfectly fairgrounds with its Tribal Casinos. There is nothing that one type of casino can offer that the other cannot and the only rule really imposed at the Tribal Casinos is a cap of $100 on any bet, which is the same for those casinos actually regulated by the State of Colorado.

Top 4 Colorado Casino Sites

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Online Gambling in Colorado

At present, Colorado has no legalized and regulated sites for Internet casino-style games, or for online poker, which does have one sweepstakes style website that operates within the state, but that’s not the same thing as a poker cash game. Also, not very many people have any great interest in that, or there would be more than one site.

Fortunately, if you live in the State of Colorado and you would like to play real poker, or real casino games online, then you can check out some of the recommended sites that we have listed above.

Sports bettors, on the other hand, did get a bit of luck as Colorado authorized legal and regulated online sportsbooks back in 2020. Even the Colorado Department of Revenue says so. Of course, they must not care THAT much about revenue, or they would have authorized online casinos and poker rooms, as well.

Of course, the Department of Revenue does not always get it right, as they say, in part:

Internet gambling is illegal under state and federal laws. Colorado law prohibits the transmission or reception of gambling information by any means. The federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, signed into law in October 2006, prohibits online gamblers from using credit cards, checks and electronic fund transfers to place and settle bets. Further, the federal 1961 Wire Act also prohibits the use of wire communications in interstate or foreign commerce for the placing of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers.

The first untrue statement is that Internet gambling is illegal under federal laws. Not only is that not true, but for players, that was NEVER true. There was a time, as a result of the since overturned Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) that sports betting, with exception to the State of Nevada, was illegal, but at no point in time was there, or is there, any Federal law that would make it illegal for an individual player to bet online.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act statement is only partly true. What that act does is makes it illegal for American financial institutions to knowingly engage in financial transactions with online casinos, but that act does not speak to individual players whatsoever. Moreover, if an American financial institution does so unknowingly, then they are in the clear anyway. The statement that it would prevent the individual gamblers from doing any of those things is ridiculous.

Finally, how would the WIRE Act ever possibly specifically refer to online casinos when it was passed, you know, before online casinos existed in the first place? At one point, the Department of Justice tried to argue that the WIRE Act made it illegal to gamble online whatsoever, which would prohibit individual states from regulating online casinos, but then the courts told them that they don’t make the laws and to shut the hell up.

One thing that Colorado does get right is that they state that players would have no recourse, at least not through the state, if they gamble unlawfully and are taken advantage of. That part is actually absolutely true and is even MORE correct than what some other states say on the matter. In some other states, players who lose money gambling through unlawful means theoretically have the right to recovery of losses via lawsuit. However, as a practical matter with overseas online casinos, even if the court decided in your favor it would not have the capacity to enforce collection out of its jurisdictional grasp.

One other thing to note is that, in terms of Colorado state law, all of the penalties for unlawful gambling would seem to be aimed at operators and do not apply to players anyway. While it is true that you would not have any protections in the state of Colorado, that is, in effect, true for every state. And, let me tell you from experience, even in the states where you are, “Protected,” by the casinos being regulated—it often doesn’t do a lot of good if the casino thinks you have violated their terms.

In any event, we have found no instance of any player in Colorado ever being arrested for playing casino games, or poker, online.

One would think that if Colorado had any plans to pass an Internet Gambling Bill to regulate casinos, most likely tying them to land casinos in Blackhawk, that they would have done it at the same time they passed the sports betting act, but that didn’t happen. We expect that Colorado will eventually enact legislation that will allow for real online poker, as well as casino games, but we would be hard pressed to offer a guess as to when that might finally happen.

Most probably, they will eventually look at the kind of money that states, such as Pennsylvania, are bringing and decide it’s time. Until then, feel free to check out our most recommended casinos located above!

Colorado Casinos

The three towns in Colorado who are permitted to have casinos are Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek. This is not dissimilar from a state such as New Jersey which currently only permits the existence of casinos in Atlantic City. Most people unfamiliar with the codes would probably wonder why there wouldn’t be a casino in Downtown Denver, or something along those lines.

Many of the casinos in Colorado could be confused as normal storefronts given their small size, which is not really that surprising when one considers the incrementally increasing percentage tax rate on the casino revenues. The less money you make, the greater the percentage of it that you keep!

That’s not to say that there are not any large casinos in the state. The largest casino in Colorado, Ameristar Blackhawk, has over 1,300 machines as well as over twenty (poker and table games) total tables. However, by comparison, Binion’s is a fairly small casino by Las Vegas standards and has over 800 machines. Another comparison is gambling space: Ameristar Blackhawk has about 57,000 square feet and you can compare that to Resorts, which is not Atlantic City’s largest casino by any measure, which has 100,000 square feet of gaming space.

In terms of the tribal casinos, Towaoc (your guess is as good as mine on the pronunciation!) is home to the Ute Mountain Casino, Hotel and Resort. This casino comes with slots, table games and a bingo hall of 400 seats. In terms of scope, it’s comparable to a mid-large tribal casino in Arizona, but would not be amongst the largest.

In Ignacio Colorado, the Sky Ute Casino and Resort can be found. This is a great family destination casino/resort as it features bowling, an arcade, mini-golf and a playground. This is really more of a family friendly thing and the overall resort facilities would rival the tribal casinos in Arizona as well as the casinos in just about anywhere else. This casino features slots, table games, bingo and live poker.

The only horse racing track in Colorado is Arapahoe Park, which is located in Aurora. However, Colorado has several off-track betting locations for the purpose of simulcast wagering during horse season (which only lasts a few months) as well as the off-season.

At one time, Colorado had a greyhound track but has become one of the most recent states (2014) to ban greyhound racing completely. In practice, no greyhound track had operated since 2008, anyway.

Black Hawk Colorado Casinos

Black Hawk, Colorado has the most casinos in the state housing almost 20 gambling establishments. Just a short drive from Denver, Black Hawk is close enough for the huge population in the city to reach quickly but still keeps the casinos out of Denver. Here’s a list of the casinos in Black Hawk.

Z Casino
Wild Card Saloon and Casino
The Lodge Casino at Black Hawk
The Gilpin Casino
Sasquatch Casino
Saratoga Casino in Black Hawk
Red Dolly Casino
Monarch Casino at Black Hawk
Lady Luck Casino
Isle Casino in Black Hawk
Grand Plateau Casino
Golden Mardi Gras Casino
Golden Gates Casino
Canyon Casino
Bull Durham Saloon and Casino
Black Hawk Station Casino
Ameristar Casino Resort and Spa in Black Hawk

Central City Colorado Casinos

Central City, Colorado has the third most casinos in the state. Located just to the West of Black Hawk, Central City and Black Hawk almost form a single town. Here’s a list of their casinos.

Reserve Casino and Hotel
Johnny Z’s Casino
Famous Bonanza
Easy Street
Dostal Alley Brewpub and Casino
Century Casino and Hotel

Cripple Creek Colorado Casinos

Cripple Creek, Colorado is the home to the second most casinos in the state. Cripple Creek is located outside of Colorado Springs. Here’s a list of the casinos located there.
Wildwood Casino
Midnight Rose Hotel and Casino
Johnny Nolon’s Casino
JP McGill’s Hotel and Casino
Gold Creek Casino
Double Eagle Hotel and Casino
Colorado Grande Casino
Century Casino in Cripple Creek
Buffalo Billy’s Casino
Bronco Billy’s Casino
Brass Ass Casino Cripple Creek

Poker in Colorado

Legal poker is not as widely available in Colorado as it is in many other states. Even though you’ll find almost 40 casinos in the state there are fewer than 100 poker tables combined and almost all of them are located in Black Hawk.

The Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk has 17 poker tables and the Ameristar Casino in Black Hawk has 22 tables. The Isle Casino and Hotel in Black Hawk also has 17 poker tables. Outside of these three casinos if you can find a poker room it will probably only have two to four tables.

Slot Machine Ownership

Colorado residents can only legally own slot machines manufactured before 1984. This allows antique slot machine collectors to maintain and add to their collections but outlaws ownership of any machines that may compete with licensed gambling activities in the state.

Many states that limit slot machine ownership set a period of time, usually 25 years, which opens up new opportunities to collectors every year. For example, in the year 2000, you could own machines manufactured from 1975 and before. In 2010 you could own machines made from 1985 and before.

Colorado has a set date of 1984 so collectors in the state are kind of stuck in what they will ever be able to legally own.

Lottery

The State of Colorado is also home to a State Lottery, though this one seems a bit less popular than those of other states. We suspect the reason why is that the residents of Colorado have access to better forms of gambling, such as Commercial Casinos, so many have no desire to play the lottery games.

Another thing about Colorado is that some of the state’s residents are fairly isolated, that’s obviously not true in the bigger cities, but many of those in the state are scattered throughout the mountains and other less-densely populated areas such that they may not always be convenient to lottery retailers.

Here is the Colorado Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2019 as it appears that 2020 is not available online as of the time of this writing:

The first thing that we find is that the State of Colorado mandates a minimum return to player of 50%:

Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.) Section 44-40-111(9), requires that no less than 50% of the total revenue from sales of lottery tickets be for prizes. The legislation also provides guidelines for distribution of net proceeds to beneficiary agencies. Article XXVII of the Colorado Constitution states that “net lottery proceeds” (that is, proceeds after the payment of prizes and lottery expenses and a reserve for future operations) are to be distributed to the Conservation Trust Fund within the Department of Local Affairs, the Division of Parks and Wildlife within the Department of Natural Resources, and the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund (GOCO). The amount distributed to GOCO is limited by a constitutional cap, which was calculated to be $68.5 million for the year ended June 30, 2019.

However, it’s important to remember that the multi-state drawing games such as Powerball and Mega Millions will still frequently pay out less than 50% in returns. This particular statute describes the lottery’s overall minimum return, so sub-50% drawing games are made up for by way of Instant Tickets that tend to have returns of well over 50%.

Here is a table that describes the return by each game type:

Game Type	Sales	Prizes	Return to Player
Instant Tickets	443,409,967	299,240,160	67.49%
Powerball	86,147,274	40,950,837	47.54%
Lotto	28,034,842	14,529,352	51.83%
Mega Millions	72,719,920	34,900,730	47.99%
Cash 5	16,571,656	9,159,621	55.27%
Cash 5 EZ Match	3,041,876	1,777,359	58.43%
Pick 3	12,902,998	6,209,327	48.12%
Lucky for Life	16,951,078	10,171,758	60.01%
Total	679,779,611	416,939,144	61.33%

Colorado is also unique for having some of the highest denominations of Instant Tickets in the entire country! In 2019, a single ticket could cost as much as $50, whereas it seems like the majority of states max out around $30. These higher denomination tickets are still a terrible bet, but they do pull the averages up a bit for return to player.

As we can see, the Colorado Lottery had an overall return to player of 61.33%, which was made possible by the fact that nearly two-thirds of all tickets sold were Instant Tickets.

We do notice that the lottery had three individual games that it offered that returned less than 50%, but as we said before, the 50% rule only applies to the overall returns.

Residents would lose $262,840,467 to the lottery overall, which based on a 2019 population estimate of 5.759M, comes out to about $45.64/resident, which is on the low end for state lotteries.

Once again, we would mainly attribute this to better forms of gambling being pretty widely available in the state–as well as the lack of population density in certain areas of the state. It’s usually those states with a higher percentage of their residents living in larger cities that do better in terms of lottery revenues—mainly because that’s more of the people in the state who are located conveniently to a lottery retailer.

Unique Law And Warning

At this time, I would like to make it known to readers that the casinos in Colorado have a unique law that they do enforce, which can EASILY impact you and to provide you with a warning.

For more details, please refer to my article.

The long and short of it is that Colorado does not have a, “Finders Keepers,” law as it relates to casinos. That is not especially unique to Colorado, as Pennsylvania is a state with a similar law. What is unique to Colorado is the fact that they seem to go out of their way to enforce this law, all the way to the courtroom and getting fined, over trivial sums of money.

In addition to any fines, an individual found guilty would also find himself/herself banned from all Colorado casinos for a year.

This does not just apply to cash and chips, but also slot machine credits. In order to not inadvertently end up the victim of this very stupid and non-intuitive state bucks cash grab law, make sure not to put your money in on a machine that already has credits on it. The amount of credits doesn’t matter. Make sure that if there is more than $0.00 in credits on that machine that you notify security, print the ticket and take it to security or print the ticket and put it on top of the machine. My best advice would be to tell security and not risk printing the ticket, because for whatever reason, they are gung-ho about enforcing this idiotic law.

Conclusion + Prognosis For The Future

Colorado is and should remain one of the most liberal states of the fifty in terms of its gambling laws. With exception to online and the fact that sports betting is not available yet, every other form of gambling is legalized, regulated and offered by the state. Social gambling is legal within the state and the laws regarding charitable gaming are reasonable.

When it comes to the current online gambling situation for players, honestly, a player is more likely to get in trouble for accidentally jacking free credits on a slot machine in one of the land casinos than to ever get in trouble for playing online. While it does constitute unlawful gambling, there is literally no penalty specified for acting as a player and we can find no instance of any penalty ever being enforced for playing online. Just make sure you notify security about that seven cents on a slot machine in Black Hawk before putting your ticket in.

In terms of future expectations, Colorado is actively working to get sportsbetting going and online should follow within the next few years as more and more states get into it. The only way I could see online not happening in Colorado is if they decide it gives the huge casinos too big of an advantage.