If you want to experience gambling in a Colorado mountain town, then Cripple Creek is the best place to visit for gaming fun. With nine casinos all within walking distance along historic Bennett Avenue, there’s plenty of unique and exciting table games and slot machines. And now that Colorado gaming law allows sports betting, you can cheer on your favorite teams in ALL your favorite sports right here in Cripple Creek. And the fun and action NEVER STOPS! Casinos are now open 24-hours with no last call. Are you ready to strike it RICH with non-stop gaming action and FUN? Visit Cripple Creek!
- Cripple Creek casinos have the best gambling fun in Colorado! If you want to experience gambling in a Colorado mountain town, then Cripple Creek is the best place to visit for gaming fun. With nine casinos all within walking distance along historic Bennett Avenue, there’s plenty of unique and exciting table games and slot machines.
- Colorado has some of the finest Indian casinos where you can gamble. Indian casinos are a type of casino that are run, owned and regulated by local Indian tribes. Although similar to that of conventional government operated casinos, several specialties set them apart too. Colorado Indian casinos are lively and owned by the Southern Ute Tribe.
A Colorado state gambling bill passed in 1991 that permits casinos to operate legally in three historic gold mining towns: Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek. The idea was to preserve the historic districts and save the towns from becoming 'ghost towns.' As of May 1, 2020, sports betting is legal in Colorado as long as you place legal bets with a licensed sports betting operator within the borders of Colorado. Sports betting is only legal if you’re betting at a sportsbook licensed and authorized by the state of Colorado. Offshore sportsbooks are not.
BRONCO BILLY’S
Eat, drink, and win when you take a seat at the friendly slots in Bronco Billy’s Casino, named “Best Casino” in The Gazette and The Colorado Springs Independent for several consecutive years! When walking through the casino you’re sure to see confetti on the floor from all of the jackpots paid out that day! Bronco Billy’s is proud of the millions they pay out in jackpots every month – come join the winners at Bronco Billy’s Casino.
Century Casino
Century Casino has a great selection of popular penny slots, all the hot new slots, video poker machines and classic reel games. Join the Gold Club and earn free play, free food and overnight stays. Look for fun promotions every day of the week at Century Casino.
Colorado Grande Casino & Hotel
Located in the Fairly-Lampman building, the Colorado Grande Casino offers an authentic Cripple Creek gaming experience with a variety of games. In addition to its offering of video poker and the “oldies but goodies” with loose dollar reel slots, you can also find the latest Aristocrat and IGT games with current TITO penny machines. Machines at the Colorado Grande Casino include $5, quarter, nickel and penny slots.
Johnny Nolon’s Saloon & Gambling Emporium
Located at the corner of Third Street and Bennett Avenue, Johnny Nolon’s Casino in Cripple Creek offers a variety of slot machines and video poker for unlimited gaming fun. Be sure to ask about Johnny Nolon’s hot progressives and new promotions.
McGill’s Casino & Hotel
McGill’s Hotel & Casino boasts a variety of excitement and entertainment, with video poker, slots and progressive machines on the spacious floor. McGill’s Casino & Hotel is designed for comfort, convenience and excitement, the mezzanine overlooks the main level of the casino and has the hottest coin games in town.
Midnight Rose Casino & Hotel
From the grand staircase to the warmth and hospitality of the staff, you will feel as though you stepped back in time at the Midnight Rose Hotel & Casino. Enjoy state-of-the-art games and luxurious gaming rooms in an atmosphere fit for royalty. With two spacious floors of entertainment, the Midnight Rose Hotel & Casino features the newest and hottest slots from WMS, IGT, Aristocrat and more.
The Brass Ass Casino
The Brass Ass Casino is located inside one of the city’s most historic buildings. The Brass Ass Casino features old town street scene décor, including western building facades and the original Cripple Creek lighted-sign from H.H. Rosser’s Pool Hall. This Colorado Casino is named after the brass ass statue in the window of the casino – one of the original brass donkeys that launched boats with a well-placed kick at the 1893 World Exposition in Chicago.
The Double Eagle Hotel & Casino
One of Cripple Creek’s largest casinos, the Double Eagle Hotel & Casino features live table action, including Double Deck Pitch Blackjack with a 3-2 pay table, and Roulette, with digital odds display. Prefer the slots? The Double Eagle Hotel & Casino boasts the latest slots and video poker machines from IGT, Williams Bally and Aristocrat.
Wildwood Casino
At Wildwood Casino, you will find hundreds of your favorite slots and video poker machines, along with Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em, Blackjack, Craps, and Roulette. Be sure to sign up for a Club Wild Card – the quickest way to earn exclusive member-only rewards at Wildwood Casino, the Highest Casino in the World!
Where Can You Gamble In Colorado
The Colorado Constitution and Colorado law allow only certain types of 'gambling.' In addition to limited gaming in Colorado casinos, the following forms of gambling are legal:
- Colorado Division of Racing-Live and off-track betting on horse racing events
- Secretary of State's Office - Licensing & Regulations for bingo, raffles and charitable games.
- 'Social' Gambling (See Social Gambling Exception below)
All other forms of gambling are prohibited.
Information and commonly asked questions about both legal and illegal gambling activities:
Although the Division of Gaming cannot provide any legal advice, the following is some guidance based upon what has been deemed illegal under Colorado law. Counties and municipalities would have jurisdiction over these matters and may have local ordinances that also address gambling issues, so we encourage you to contact your local district attorney or city attorney's office for guidance because the Division only regulates casino gambling in Central City, Cripple Creek and Black Hawk.
Colorado law does allow charitable organizations to sponsor gambling events at a licensed retailer/operator. (This means a licensed casino in Cripple Creek, Black Hawk or Central City, Colorado.) The provisions governing these events are found in Colorado Revised Statutes, sections 12-47.1-901, 902 and 903. (View Colorado's gaming statutes.)
Outside of the gaming towns, criminal statutes govern gambling activity. For 'gambling' to occur, three elements must be present: consideration, chance, and reward. These elements are sometimes expressed as 'payment, luck, and prize.' The first level of inquiry, then, is whether all three of these components are present, because by eliminating any one of them, the activity would not meet the definition of 'gambling' as set forth in Colorado law.
For example, if the consideration component is eliminated and no fee, buy-in or other money is required or solicited from the participants, then prizes may be awarded to the player(s) who perform well in a casino type game. This is how several organized poker tournaments are able to operate legally outside the three gaming towns. On the other hand, if an organization charges a donation, fee or other buy-in for the casino games or just for the event, then it cannot legally distribute prizes or money based upon who wins or plays well in the casino type games. Such an organization could legally conduct a drawing, door prize or raffle as long as the prizes are awarded randomly and are not tied to success in the casino type game(s). Likewise, the organization could legally conduct the casino type games for the pure entertainment value alone. By disconnecting any prize or money from the risk element of the casino type game(s), such activity would arguably not meet the definition of gambling.
Although there is a social gambling exception in statute, the Colorado Supreme Court has held that charitable events do not qualify. Charnes v Central City Opera House 1989.pdf
Because a charity event typically seeks to raise money, the only way to hold a casino night where participants pay or donate money, is to hold the casino games for entertainment value only. In other words, there can be NO cash or other prizes awarded as a result of the games played. However, a raffle or door prize scenario where anybody can win the prize without regard to how they played or if they played the games is an option.
Companies do exist that will rent the needed equipment for casino type games. Lastly, if the charitable event will involve a liquor license, the Division of Liquor Enforcement could provide guidance on these issues.
Colorado Division of Gaming
May 2014
'Find a penny, pick it up,' might be a familiar childhood rhyme, but in Colorado casinos, keeping found money in or from a casino is a violation of state gaming law.
Can You Bet Online In Colorado
When Colorado voters legalized limited gaming in 1990, slot machines typically used coins: pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. In many jurisdictions outside of Colorado, people would walk around casinos, glancing at empty slot machines, looking for any coins left behind. The name 'silver miners' was coined to describe people who looked for money around casino games.
Slot machines keep track of how much money has been played and how much money has been won or lost, but in recent years, most slot machines have migrated to modern technology where the machine does not spill out coins when there's a jackpot. Electronic bells and whistles have taken the place of the happy jangle of a pile of coins spilling into a metal tray.
The problem of people 'mining' for dropped coins has also evolved along with technology. People may be questioned or even charged with Fraudulent Acts if they sit down at a slot machine and play off credits another player has left behind.
Buckets of jackpot coins have been replaced with slips of paper, called 'TITO‚' slips for 'ticket in, ticket out.' When a player finishes playing a slot machine and has credits accumulated on the machine, he or she can cash out the winnings, which is a printed slip of paper showing the balance. That TITO slip can be reinserted into another slot machine, redeemed at a kiosk, or turned into a casino cashier in exchange for cash.
So if a person sits down at a slot machine and plays someone else's credits, how do casino staff and Division of Gaming investigators determine just whose money is being played? For starters, every slot machine is under surveillance. Surveillance video can determine who played, how much they bet, how long they played, and whether jackpots were won. Event logs maintained on each slot machine can verify every transaction that took place, including game play history.
Likewise, if the first or second player used a player card (a player-specific card issued by the casino to track player use as well as link the player to promotions and marketing opportunities), transactions that took place on the slot machine after the card was inserted by the patron can be accessed to view the details.
Sometimes the second player sits down at a slot machine and simply doesn't recognize that there are credits on the machine, and may insert additional money on top of existing credits. The slot machine event logs, as well as the visual information from surveillance, is usually enough to determine if either player is owed credits or money. A player who finds someone else's credits and plays them off can be issued a citation under the Fraudulent Acts law.
If you find a lost ticket, cash or coins on the casino floor, let a casino staff member know. If you want to play a vacant slot machine and discover someone else's credits are waiting, you can find another machine or notify a casino staff member to properly document and remove the existing credits so you can play. If a patron returns to the casino looking for the lost ticket or money, the casino will return their property. If they return to a slot machine where they have left credits, the casino can return those as well. But there is no allowance under Colorado law for 'finders keepers' to keep a windfall.
2014
Colorado law allows a 'social gambling' exception, which allows 'gambling' that is incidental to a bona fide social relationship and is participated in by natural persons. A 'bona fide social relationship' means that the parties must have an established social relationship based upon some other common interest other than the gambling activity.
Further, one participating in such social game cannot directly or indirectly participate in 'professional gambling,' which is defined in Colorado law as 'aiding or inducing another to engage in gambling, with the intent to derive a profit therefrom.' This generally means that no one other than the players can profit from the game or activity in any manner. The profit does not need to be direct profit. Colorado law defines 'profit' as any 'realized or unrealized benefit, direct or indirect, including without limitation benefits from proprietorship, management, or unequal advantage in a series of transactions.'
These two criteria - a bona fide social relationship and no profit motive - must be present for a gambling activity to be considered legal 'social gambling.'
The Colorado Attorney General's Office and the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission have worked together to put together this response for information purposes only. This response should not be construed as a legal opinion, and you should consult with legal counsel before taking final action regarding the information in this response. Further, this response only encompasses Colorado State statutes. County and municipal jurisdictions may have local ordinances that may also address gambling issues. You should contact your local district attorney's office to determine these ordinances.
The first consideration in determining if a poker tournament or 'casino night' is allowed under social gambling laws is whether the activity is defined as 'gambling.' For gambling to occur, three factors must be present - consideration, chance and reward. These can be better described as 'payment, luck and prize.' If any of these three factors is not present, then the activity is not considered gambling. For example, if no donation, fee, buy-in, tips, drink minimums or any other monetary consideration are required or solicited from the participants in a poker tournament or casino night, then prizes may be awarded to the player(s) who perform well during the tournament or games.
On the other hand, if an organization charges a donation, fee or other buy-in for a poker tournament or casino night, then it cannot legally distribute prizes based upon who wins or plays well in the tournament or event. Such organization could legally conduct a drawing, door prize or raffle as long as the prizes are randomly awarded and are not tied to success in the tournament or event. Likewise, the organization could legally conduct the tournament or casino night for the pure entertainment value alone. By disconnecting the prize from the risk element of the poker or other event, such activity would arguably not meet the definition of gambling. The Colorado Secretary of State handles permits for bingo and raffle events. This paragraph applies even if the poker tournament or casino night is for charity and/or the prizes are donated.
Once the activity has met the legal definition of 'gambling,' it can still be a legal activity if it meets the 'social gambling' exception in Colorado statute.
Are Casinos Open In Colorado
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.
Unlike participants in legalized forms of gambling, persons who wager on online casinos have no recourse with any state agency should they not be paid for winning wagers or have any other dispute with the entity with which they are placing their bets. Furthermore, players are not guaranteed odds. By statute, slot and video machines in Colorado casinos must pay out between 80 percent and 100 percent. Online casinos are not required to have minimum payouts and are under no form of regulatory control to ensure compliance with any payout controls.
Many online sites advertise they are 'legal' and 'licensed' forms of wagering. They may be legal or licensed where the bets are received, but it remains illegal to place bets from Colorado with these businesses.
In addition, the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission prohibits persons and businesses licensed in the casino industry in Colorado from having any involvement with internet gaming sites that can be accessed by Colorado residents.