Find the Colorado Gambling Age: Casinos, Sports Bets & More

So, you are interested in gambling in the Centennial State? Theres a few things you will need to know – most importantly what the legal gambling is in Colorado. To help you out we’ve included in this page everything you need to know about the minimum gambling age Colorado has set for each form of gaming.

We will also go into detail about each popular form of gambling and its legality within Colorado. Giving you insights into what forms of gambling are currently legal in Colorado, any potential upcoming gambling law changes and how you can make the most of the gambling formats available to residents and visitors of colorful Colorado.

In the table above we have laid out the legal gambling age Colorado has set for each legal form of gambling currently available in Colorado. Colorado has applied a uniform gambling age of 21 across all forms, this is likely because the legal drinking age in the US is also 21 and many land-based gambling establishments serve alcohol.

In the sections below we will go into more detail about each of the forms of gambling listed above. In each section we will outline the history around each type of gambling, go into more detail about the legal gambling age and discuss whether there is any legislative changes ahead on the horizon if a particular form of gambling has restrictions placed on it.

Casino Age in Colorado

Colorado is in a unique position where it has made commercial casino gambling legal as well as having several tribal casinos operating in the state. This gives casino lovers a wide variety of casinos to choose from if they want to play in Colorado with 35 casinos operating in the state.

The legal age to gamble in all land-based casinos in Colorado is 21. The casino age in Colorado has likely been set at 21 as it mirrors the legal drinking age in the US, which makes a lot of sense as the majority of casinos serve alcohol on site.

Colorado legalized land-based commercial casinos in 1991 in an effort to boost tax revenue and provide a form of economic stimulus to struggling small towns. Residents wanting to play at a casino in Colorado have a huge variety of casino classics to choose from including Slot Machines, Blackjack, Roulette, Poker, Baccarat and more as, unlike other states, there are few restrictions on the types of games the casinos can offer.

What are The Casinos In Colorado that accept 18 year Olds?

There are no 18 year old casinos in Colorado. While Colorado is very liberal in its approach to legalizing forms of gambling, it is still conservative in the age restrictions it has applied to all forms of legalized gambling. Unfortunately for 18 year olds, there are no legalized forms of gambling within Colorado, so residents will have to wait a few more years before they can get involved.

For those who are above the legal gambling age in Colorado we’ve pulled together a list of the top eight casinos in the state.

Sports Betting In Colorado

While sports betting in some forms has been legal in Colorado for a number of years, as recently as May 2020 new legislation entered the state legislature that has legalized both land based and mobile online sports betting for the first time. Like all other forms of gambling in Colorado, the legal betting age is 21 for all forms of sports betting.

Pari-mutuel betting has a more established history in Colorado, with horse racing and greyhound racing being legal since casino gambling was first introduced in 1991. However, these bets could, and still can only be placed within the established gambling zones. The same zone rule applies to the land-based sports betting legalized by the new state legislature, any individual who wants to bet on sports in person can only do so at one of Colorado’s established casinos.

However, should residents of Colorado want to place sports bets from the comfort of their own home the new legislation also allows for this by legalizing mobile gambling. In order to limit the number of mobile sports betting operators within the state, Colorado has stipulated that only existing casinos can apply for a mobile betting license, however they can allow a third party to operate that license on their behalf.

Colorado Online Gambling Age

Colorado is one of the many states within the US that is yet to fully legalize online gambling. However, as mentioned above the state is moving in the right direction by legalizing mobile sports betting in 2020. Players who want to participate in mobile sports betting need to be 21 years or older. Players who use the licensed sports betting mobile apps in Colorado will notice that they allow them to bet on all popular professional sports leagues, but that college sports are not able to have wagers placed on them.

After the change of law and wider legalization of sports betting in Colorado in 2020 individuals who want to bet online can do so via a variety of apps, including popular Daily Fantasy Sports apps such as FanDuel and DraftKings, which we will discuss later on this page.

Online casino gambling is not yet legal in Colorado, it remains one of the only forms of gambling that is yet to be legalized in the centennial state. For a list of all legal forms of gambling available in the state check out our Colorado gambling ages table at the top of this page.

For those players desperate to gamble at an online casino, we would recommend they hop across to Nevada where online gambling is fully legal. Players might be able to access off shore betting sites and casinos, but they should be wary about wagering with these operators as they are not licensed or regulated within the US and therefore players would not be covered by any US consumer protection laws when gambling with them.

Colorado Poker Gambling Age

While playing online poker, like playing all other online casino games, is illegal in Colorado, players can still enjoy the casino classic in real life at one of the many land-based casinos. Players have to be 21 to wager at a poker game.

Poker games are hugely popular within the Centennial State, with poker rooms occupying many of the state’s large casinos. There is also a long history of professional poker tournaments being held with casino hubs such as Black Hawk and Cripple Creek, with Black Hawk’s Lodge Casino a regular location for the World Poker Tournament.

While online poker games are currently a no deal in Colorado, given the recent law changes and inclusion of online sports betting in the stable of legal gambling in Colorado there is hope that online casino games including poker will soon become legal.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Daily Fantasy Sports have been legal in Colorado since 2016 when it became the fifth state to formally legalize it. According to state legislature players have to be over 21 years old to play

Daily Fantasy Sports occupies a grey area of law across the US. Colorado was able to easily legislate its legality without having to make any amendments to the state’s constitution through the argument that Daily Fantasy Sports betting is skill-based activity and therefore doesn’t fall within the traditional gambling definition. The passing of legislation also enabled additional consumer protection clauses to be included that directly addresses problem gambling, which is a win win for players and Colorado.

Legal Age to Play the Lottery in Colorado

Lottery has been legal in Colorado since 1983, making it one of the longest standing state lotteries in the US. Like most other states only individuals above the age of 18 can participate in the state lottery. Like most state lotteries across the US all proceeds are used to fund local charities/non-profits. After a referendum in 1992 the residents of Colorado voted that all revenue should be allocated allocated to companies with a focus on preserving the natural environment.

The lottery in Colorado is run by the Colorado Lottery and has been managed by the same institution since its inception in 1983. The lottery fund offers a wide range of games including scratch cards, powerball, mega millions, bonus draws and more. Players are able to purchase tickets for any of the state lottery games in person at any registered lottery seller within Colorado state boarders.

Colorado is yet to institute an online lottery, the only way to purchase lottery ticket is in person. While online lotteries have been rolling out across other states in the US, including Illinois, Michigan and Georgia in the midst of confusion regarding the interpretation of the Wire Act 1961, Colorado has stuck with the traditional form of lottery ticket selling.

While many other states are making moves towards legalizing online lotteries or offering lotto results via mobile apps, Colorado hasn’t made any recent moves to legislate for an online lottery. However, as online sports betting has recently been legalised it might only be a matter of time before there are further advancements in internet wagering within Colorado including the possibility of an online lotto.

Colorado Gambling Laws & Future Outlook

The governing state legislature for gambling in Colorado is enshrined in Colorado Revised Statute Criminal Code 18-10-101. This code defines gambling as ‘risking money or any other thing of value for gain contingent in whole or part upon, lot, chance, the operation of a gambling device, or the happening of an event, including a sporting event, over which the person taking a risk has no control, but does not include: bona fide contests of skill, speed, strength or endurance in which awards are made only to entrants or the owners of entries’.

By reading this statute it can be surmised that gambling in Colorado includes casino gambling, sports betting, electronic gambling machines, pari-mutuel betting, state lottery, bingo, and poker rooms. The same statute also allows for the legality of certain forms of gambling in which the government has specifically legislated for its legality, for example the recent 2017 amendments that allow for Daily Fantasy Sports legality.

The gambling market in Colorado is very healthy with gambling creating a $1.81 billion economic footprint in 2019, while also supporting over 10,000 jobs. This coupled with the state lottery, brings in a lot of tax revenue which supports state infrastructure and institutions while also funding state run charities and non-profits – meaning that supporting gambling within Colorado is definitely in the Colorado state legislatures interest.

Tax on gambling winnings in Colorado is applied according to an individual’s personal income tax bracket, any winnings that players might receive need to be declared on personal tax forms and the IRS will then tax them at the relevant rate. Any major winnings within the state might also be subject to federal tax as well for example, in the state lottery any winnings above $5,000 are subject to a 24% federal tax as well as 4% state tax.

Colorado currently has a very liberal approach to gambling in the state, with over 30 land-based casinos operating within the state, a long-standing state lottery, bingo and poker rooms, a long history of pari-mutuel betting and most recently the legalization of sports betting both in person and online – Colorado is very supportive to the gambling community.

Looking to the future, now that Colorado has made the first step towards legalizing online gambling within the state after legalizing limited online sports betting, the next move would be to legalize further forms of online gambling. However, there might be a few hurdles in the way to making any further legislative changes.

The first hurdle would be the state legislatures reluctance to introduce any massive legislative changes as this requires the amendment of the state’s constitution – which is quite a large undertaking. Therefore, there would need to be significant public support and/or tax incentives for the state to want to undertake any moves to alter the state constitution.

The second hurdle that legislators face if they move to legalize any further forms of online gambling is the interpretation of the Federal Wire Act 1961. There have been several different interpretations of the act in the past few decades, with the federal legal status of online gambling within the US currently debated with some rulings saying that the act can be read in a way that means that online gambling is illegal whereas others say it is just sports betting that can be read as illegal. Therefore if the Colorado state legislature wants to legislate in line with concrete federal laws, they might need to wait until a final ruling on the Federal Wire Act is made.

Frequently Asked Questions

We hope that this page has given you a good overview of the legal status of gambling within Colorado and the legal age required to participate in any legal form of gambling. If you still have any outstanding questions, we have pulled together some answers for the most frequently asked questions below. For other the other US gambling ages, check out our homepage.