The home of the Rocky Mountains may boast all kinds of outdoor activities, but online gambling in Colorado is also a welcome distraction for many. You get the convenience of betting at your fingertips without having to take a long road trip.

This page is dedicated to everything you need know about gambling online for real money in CO, and includes a list of the best Colorado online gambling sites.

Mobile Sports Betting in Colorado. Making betting legal in Colorado came with an important achievement – the state enabled mobile betting, allowing the stakeholders and sports fans to tap into the full potential of the industry. A long and hotly-debated topic, Colorado sports betting apps are definitely most residents’ preferred way of betting. Apps allow for quick and easy navigation.

1. The gaming control’s position is that most online gambling services are prohibited from anyone licensed in the Colorado casino industry. But now, with DFS and sports betting regulated, Colorado gambling laws are starting to evolve slowly.
2. The Legal Status of Gambling in Colorado The legal status of different types of gambling in Colorado depends heavily on where in the state you’relocated. Colorado has relaxed gambling laws, in part because the state defers to county and municipal law whenit comes to gaming regulation.
3. The legal gambling age in Colorado is 18 for lottery and bingo, but 21 for horse racing and casino games. The gambling age for live sports betting would also be 21. Is Bovada legal in Colorado? Bovada, like MyBookie, is an unregulated, offshore sportsbook. As such, it is not legal in Colorado.

Colorado and gambling have gone hand in hand ever since the 19^th century. Back then, it was the heyday for renowned card players like Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson. These days, though, poker has evolved from saloons to Vegas-style casinos.

There are about 40 casinos in the state, all located in Cripple Creek, Central City, and Black Hawk. Residents and visitors can also play the lottery, and participate in pari-mutuel betting and daily fantasy sports. There are no shortage of options for real money gambling in Colorado.

In May of 2020, the first state-licensed sportsbooks, were unveiled in the Centennial State. But even with places to walk into to place a bet, and all the casino venues, online gambling in Colorado can be preferable.

We explain more later, but let’s start with details of the top online gambling sites for Colorado.

Ranking the best Colorado online gambling sites takes quite a bit of time and research. Fortunately, though, we’ve got an entire team of experts that’s knowledgeable and stays up to date on everything happening in the world of internet betting and gamling.

Unlike in-person casinos and other venues, real money online gambling sites for Colorado (and other players around the world) can come and go quickly. It could take a year to build a casino or a week to launch a website. So, it’s essential that we not only review each operation, but we revisit all of them frequently.

We have a comprehensive list of criteria that we use when we evaluate the service and reputation of a casino, sportsbook, or poker site, and we’ll get into more specifics in the next section. But it’s not a one-and-done process.

We continue to follow the news, watch for new site launches, and monitor legal online gambling in CO and beyond.

Rating Real Money Gambling Sites for CO

There are a few types of Colorado online gambling services.

Daily fantasy sports was approved in 2016, and the providers may be outside of the area, but the operations are regulated in-state. There are also sports betting sites and, as of 2020, some of them have in-state licensing.

Other real money gambling sites for Colorado players are based out of the area and don’t fall under the state’s jurisdiction. They can be casinos only, although some of them include sportsbooks and poker rooms as well. These are the websites that we primarily focus on, because they require a more stringent review process.

When we’re evaluating Colorado online gambling sites, in particular, we take extra steps to ensure that they go the extra mile, especially when it comes to payment options. It’s not enough to accept a credit card, as US players need additional selections.

Using something like Bitcoin is ideal for real money gambling online. Transfers are fast, free, and private. Other have options have their own benefits, too.

The money side of things is one of the most important when ranking online gambling sites for CO. But we also take a look at the entire operation from top to bottom. Our checklist starts with the homepage of the site and continues to customer service, bonuses, promotions, games, reputation, player feedback, and more.

Online gambling in Colorado is relatively new, although poker and other betting activities have been around for centuries in the Centennial State.

Getting to the point where there are now 40 casinos took some time. From 1948 to 1982, the only legal game in town was pari-mutuel betting. Even though things started to evolve in the 1980s, the change didn’t come very quickly.

The lottery was first on the list, and ticket sales started in 1983. From there, it was almost a decade before the next gambling expansion took place, but it was significant. In 1991, Colorado approved Vegas-style casino gambling in three locations. Unlike many states, it wasn’t all attributed to IGRA, and some of the venues are for-profit operations that are separate from the tribal casinos.

As we mentioned, there are currently about 40 casinos located in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek. While it’s been business as usual for a few decades, things are starting to change once more. Some of the venues are adding sportsbooks beginning in 2020.

Both daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting were approved and in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Sportsbooks will be licensed and regulated in the state of Colorado for both in-person and online business.

Even though there are some in-state regulated online sportsbooks, most of the online gambling in Colorado is provided by operators out of state.

The gaming control’s position is that most online gambling services are prohibited from anyone licensed in the Colorado casino industry. But now, with DFS and sports betting regulated, Colorado gambling laws are starting to evolve slowly.

You’re not currently able to play slots or table games at Colorado online gambling sites that are regulated in-state, but that may change in due course. And you have access to those games, anyway, at the real money gambling sites that we recommend.

• Casino Gambling: legal
• Poker: legal (in casinos)
• Sports Betting: legal in-person and online
• Online Daily Fantasy Sports: legal
• Lottery: legal
• Horse and Dog Racing Betting: legal
• Other Online Gambling: not licensed and regulated in-state

With the lottery and all of the casinos, why would you want to use a Colorado online gambling site?

The answer would be the same if you replaced “gambling” with “shopping.” People like the convenience of having everything at their fingertips.

We’ve all grown accustomed to instant gratification. We buy things when we have the impulse whether we’re out in a store or not. When we want to watch a movie, we can stream one instead of always going out to a theater.

Online gambling in Colorado or anywhere else in the world can be a hobby for many people. It’s a way to pass the time, and it’s entertaining. If you’re a sports fan, you can catch a game. Of course, having a bet in place makes it even more exciting to watch. Slots, table games, and video poker can be fun pursuits as well.

In addition to being able to gamble any time and anywhere, it may be the only game in town for some players. If you enjoy real money gambling in Colorado and you don’t live near one of the three casino hotbeds, then gambling online is a great alternative.

The top CO gambling sites have come a long way since the earlier days. You know, way back when, in the late 90s and early 21st century!

Today’s online casinos and sportsbooks are filled with all kinds of options. You can even sit down at a virtual live dealer table and watch as a living and breathing human being deals out the cards. Or, if privacy is your thing, you don’t have to go anywhere near a live casino. You can stick to playing against the computer.

You can bet on pretty much any sport you want to, with all kinds of different wagers available.

You’ll find more ways to move money in and out of online accounts, as well as new types of bonuses and promotions.

There’s better customer service, too. Not too long ago, it was challenging to find a phone number for some online gambling websites. Nowadays most of them have live chat.

More Top Gambling Sites for Colorado

While we’ve got a list of the top recommendations for the all-around best Colorado online gambling sites, you may be looking for something more specific.

Not all gambling websites extend their services to include all of casino, sports betting, and poker. Some don’t have live dealer tables, while others are all-inclusive.

So, we’ve taken our ratings and ranking system to another level by taking the best Colorado gambling sites and breaking them down into categories. That way, you can pull up what you’re most interested in without having to go one by one through each site to see if it carries your favorites.

Coloradans who enjoy real money gambling have quite a few options in their home state. They don’t need to travel to Las Vegas to do some casino gaming, as everything is available within state lines. Gambling expanded in 2020 as well with the approval of regulated in-state sports betting.

In addition to the brick and mortar options, Colorado online gambling is alive and well with new state-regulated daily fantasy sports and sports betting. Then there are the top Colorado gambling sites that we recommend, which not only allow for betting on sports but also offer casino and poker games.

Check them out and see for yourself why we recommend them!

• Casino Gambling: Legal
• Poker: Not Legal
• Horse Racing Betting: Legal
• Dog Racing Betting: Legal
  (OTB only)
• Lottery: Legal
• Daily Fantasy Sports: Not Specified
• Charitable Gaming: Legal
• Social Gambling: Legal
• Online Gambling: Not Specified

The Rocky Mountain State has a strong libertarian political streak that leads to a“hands-off” approach to vice. Colorado was the first American state to legalize the recreational use ofmarijuana and the first to reap the massive financial benefits of that action.

This is a beautiful state, taking up most of the southern Rocky Mountains. Seated atthe continental divide, the state is an interesting blend of the traditional and the contemporary. Gamblers inColorado enjoy a generally-relaxed policing atmosphere, with legal casino gambling, social gambling, charitygames, lotteries, and other markets available in a regulated form.

On this page we cover the legal status of gambling in this state, as well as discusswhether or not it is actually legal to gamble online in Colorado.

Before we dig deep into Colorado gambling law and state gaming tradition, let’s startby setting the stage. The numbers below should give you some context for the rest of the information we share.You’ll notice, right off the bat, that Colorado is a gaming powerhouse, and that the state earns a huge chunk oftheir total revenue from gaming taxes.

Clearly, gaming is big business in Colorado. The state’s other big revenue-generating venture, the sale ofretail and medical marijuana, is making headlines worldwide for generating $75 million for the state. Meanwhile,reliable old casino gambling is outpacing even the state’s firestorm of weed sales figures. With Colorado gaminglaw still very much in flux, we think the comparison between the newly-launched retail marijuana market and therelatively-new casino gambling industry in the state is apt. It’s tough to put your finger on exactly what typesof gaming are legal and illegal in the state. The next section is dedicated entirely to a long look at Coloradogaming statutes.

The legal status of different types of gambling in Colorado depends heavily on where in the state you’relocated. Colorado has relaxed gambling laws, in part because the state defers to county and municipal law whenit comes to gaming regulation.

The easiest way to understand a state’s policies toward gambling is to start with their definition of theterm. According to Section 18-10-101 of the Colorado criminal code, “Gambling” refers to the act of

That’s a laborious and thorough definition of gambling that would seem to preclude just about any form ofbetting.

But the law continues with some exceptions. Here they are, as taken directly from the state law books:

“Bona fide contests of skill, speed, strength, or endurance in which awards are made only to entrants or the owners of entries.”

This protects athletic competitions and some carnival and amusement games. Online poker players and sports bettors ought to perk their ears up at the word “skill” in the definition, as it might be used to establish that certain online games are excepted from state gambling law.

Is Betting Legal In Colorado

“Bona fide business transactions which are valid under the law of contracts.”

This means that any commercial gambling interest allowed to exist by the state government is protected from prosecution. It’s a gentler form of the exception in many state law books that allows any form of gambling that the state says is legal to exist.

“Other acts or transactions now or hereafter expressly authorized by law.”

This line basically grants the state the right to legalize and regulate any gambling game that they want. It’s a catch-all that any student of state gambling law will recognize as a common tactic of centralized governments.

“Any game, wager, or transaction which is incidental to a bona fide social relationship, is participated in by natural persons only, and in which no person is participating, directly or indirectly, in professional gambling.”

This line is responsible for Colorado’s famous social gambling allowance. Believe it or not, this is the only line referring to private or in-home gaming. It’s elegant, and it gives people in Colorado a lot of leeway when it comes to private poker games or other contests.

Some forms of gambling are legal regardless of where you are in the state. The Colorado Lottery operates afew state lottery games and regulates Colorado resident’s participation in larger lottery systems. The ColoradoDivision of Racing regulates all live and OTB wagers on horse racing events in the state. The Colorado Secretaryof State’s Office licenses and regulates bingo, charitable raffles, and other charity games.

Social gambling is particularly popular in the state, thanks in large part to relaxed laws about the practice. ByColorado law, a private game is legal as long as there is a legitimate social relationship between the playersand there’s no profit motive for the host. By law, players must know each other outside of the context ofgambling activity. Do we think that law enforcement is going around to private games establishing a legitimatesocial relationship? No – but it’s best to stay safe and keep your private game legal in the eyes of theAttorney General.

The state’s willingness to defer to local law has led to the creation of three casino gambling areas in threeColorado cities – Cripple Creek, Black Hawk, and Central City. Municipal governments in these areas have chosento host limited casino gambling. No game can allow wagers of more than $100, and certain card and dice games(namely blackjack and craps) aren’t allowed.

You may be thinking that Colorado law is extremely liberal. Up to this point, it is. Where the state’s gaming lawgets strict is when you bring up the subject of online gambling.

According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, online gambling is illegal. “Internet gambling is illegalunder state and federal laws,” says the Department of Revenue’s website. “Colorado law prohibits thetransmission or reception of gambling information by any means.”

Let’s take a look at this. For “gambling” to occur, by Colorado statute, there must be three elementspresent.

• Consideration – this refers to payment.
• Chance – this refers to luck.
• Reward – this refers to prizes won during gambling.

All you need to do to make a gambling activity legal in Colorado is to eliminate one of these factors.Unfortunately, by that loose definition, any traditional form of online wagering could be considered an illegalbet.

The Department of Revenue also leans heavily on the UIGEA bill and the Interstate Wire Act in theirexplanation of why online gambling is illegal. We think this is a dubious practice – deferring to federallaw in a state where local laws are sacrosanct.

Here’s a problem with the Department of Revenue’s statements on the matter – there is no express prohibitionagainst online gambling anywhere in Colorado’s statutes or penal code. Furthermore, no Colorado citizen orvisitor to the state has ever been charged with a crime related to online gambling.

What would happen to a person if they were somehow charged with and convicted of a crime for online gambling?A first-offense will almost certainly be a minor misdemeanor, similar to a speeding ticket. The fine is setbetween $50 and $100. A second offense is also a misdemeanor, but a more serious one, with a heftier fine.It’s only on a third or further offense that a felony conviction is mentioned, and fines shoot up as high as$25,000. It seems the state is far more concerned with systematic and problematic gambling than a singleincident of illegal wagering.

We field lots of questions about the legality of poker tournaments, Vegas nights, and other organized formsof gambling outside the usual scope of casino, charity, and social gaming law. In many ways, Colorado law is agift to those of us that examine gaming law for a living. It is often concise, clearly-written, and thorough.But in regards to things like private poker tournaments and church- or charity-sponsored casino game nights, thelaw is pretty obtuse.

We have to depend on statements from Colorado’s Attorney General’s office and the Colorado Gaming ControlCommission and trust their judgement on this issue. Generally speaking, these two offices work closely todeal with things like poker tournaments and gaming that’s outside the scope of what the law considers“charitable.”

We discovered, in researching the legality of a private poker tournament, that games played in a person’sprivate home can be fully legal provided they aren’t identifiable as “gambling” under Colorado law. We’vealready established what has to happen in order for an activity to be described and regulated as gambling inColorado – there must be a wager, luck, and the promise of a cash prize. If any one part of this equation isabsent, then you’re not gambling.

The best way to manipulate this loophole and ensure your game is legal, regardless of what kind of game itis? Don’t charge any kind of fee at the door, or any kind of fee whatsoever. That means no “suggesteddonations” either. It also means you can’t charge a buy-in, accept any tips, or set any kind of “minimumcharge system” for entry. This covers the old “two drink minimum” loophole. You can hand out prizes andconduct any non-device gambling you want as long as you follow this rule.

If you have to charge a fee, you can’t legally hand out any prizes at all based on the results of the game ora player’s skill or luck. You can conduct a legal raffle, door prize giveaway, or drawing. But for yourprivate event to be legal, these prizes have to be truly randomly-awarded. They can’t be tied to payment orany actual success in the event. The state takes this seriously – the Colorado Secretary of State handlesall legal permitting for charity bingo, raffle, and other gambling events, and it’s big business for thestate. As far as Colorado sees things, you’re stealing from their coffers.

Once you’ve established a game without an entry fee or other charge, you’re playing a legal game, and youdon’t have to worry about intervention by law enforcement.

Colorado Gaming Regulations

Is Gambling Legal In Colorado

We already discussed the legal status of online gambling in Colorado at length. The situation is murky atbest. As far as we can tell, so long as you’re placing real-money bets at websites based offshore, you’re notbreaking the law. Don’t forget that it’d be difficult for a law enforcement body to track you down and chargeyou with a crime, considering there’s no existing language in the Colorado penal code that addresses gamblingover the Internet. If you’re genuinely concerned about the legal status of your online gambling while within theborders of Colorado, consult a legal professional with experience in gambling law in the state.

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History of Colorado Gambling Laws

Is Online Gambling Legal In Colorado

Is Gambling Illegal In Colorado