Legal Online Poker Colorado

Online poker is not legal in Colorado, yet.

There is nothing on the books that singles out online poker or anything similar, however internet-based gambling is assumed to illegal under the umbrella gambling laws already in place – something backed.

1. Colorado Online Gambling & Casinos Legal online casinos, poker and sports betting in Colorado The gateway to the West has officially opened, as Colorado gambling debuted to residents in early 2020.
2. Colorado is a relatively poker-friendly state. Playing Poker & the Law in Colorado. There is no shortage of poker players in the state of Colorado, but many of them may not be 100% clear on how the laws of their state view their poker activity. The first thing that poker players in Colorado need to know: Poker.

Voters did pass Proposition DD on Nov. 5, 2019, essentially legalizing retail and online sports betting in Colorado. However, online poker and casino games were not attached.

The last legislative effort to bring legal online poker sites to Colorado was in 2013, and it didn’t even get to a vote. That said, the hope is that legal online sports betting can pave the way for other forms of online gambling, including online poker in Colorado.

Fortunately, poker fans can legally enjoy cash games and tournaments online via Global Poker. This room uses a sweepstakes gambling model — and operates legally around the country.

The successful launch of an online sports betting market in Colorado might change the opinion of lawmakers in the state and restart the conversation about online casinos and online poker.

Play real online poker in Colorado at Global Poker

Legal online poker options in CO

Fortunately, there is one legal online poker option in Colorado. You can legally enjoy cash games and tournaments online via Global Poker.

That’s because it uses a legal sweepstakes gambling model to operate legally all across the US.

On the surface, Global Poker looks like any other online poker site. There is a full range of cash games, tournaments, and sit and go’s with players from around the country competing.

The key difference is Global Poker’s sweepstakes model. Global Poker operates under laws designed for sweepstakes contests. Although you can win real money and withdraw it from Global Poker, you can’t use real money on the site. Instead, there is a dual currency system keeping the games legal.

Instead of making a traditional deposit, you buy “gold coins,” which you can use for “fun” play only. These gold coins have no monetary value, but when you purchase them, you are given “sweeps coins” for free. Sweeps coins have a cash value you can play with or withdraw from the site.

To stay legal, sweepstakes gambling sites need to give you a chance to enter for free. Global Poker will give you a small amount of sweeps coins if you write a letter to its registered address with your account information.

Which online poker sites will potentially launch in Colorado?

The Stars Group, a global leader in online gaming and the company behind the world’s largest poker site, PokerStars, has launched online poker operations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The company has also announced its intention to enter Michigan’s online poker market when it launches after signing a deal to operate online gambling verticals for a federally recognized Native tribe in that state.

The Stars Group’s aggressive approach to expansion into states with legalized online poker suggests if Colorado approves the launch of online poker, PokerStars will be headed here.

The same should hold true for Caesars Entertainment’s WSOP.com, which appears to have interests in any and all states approving the launch of online poker as well.

Like Caesars, MGM is a US casino giant without a property in Colorado. However, it does have online gaming agreements in place with GVC Holdings, partypoker’s parent company, which suggests the partypoker and BetMGM brands are interested in expanding everywhere it can in the US, including Colorado.

Colorado isn’t a state dominated by larger US casino corporations, therefore the market is wide open. Should lawmakers ultimately get behind the idea of legal online poker there’s really no telling which existing online poker operators, large and small, will partner with Cripple Creek, Central City, and Black Hawk casinos to launch inside the state.

Will Colorado join the MSIGA?

The Multi-State Internet Gaming Association agreement allows New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware online poker sites to share player pools.

This agreement is considered vital to the survival of the otherwise small independent markets.

Should Colorado lawmakers pass a bill legalizing online poker it may include language regarding Colorado’s participation in the agreement.

That would make multi-state poker a possibility in Colorado. In fact, it’s likely a must-have for the local online poker market to survive long-term.

The population in Colorado is larger than that of Nevada and Delaware, but smaller than New Jersey. Online poker barely survived in these states when they were on their own. Pooling players with other states seems like the best hope for a robust local online poker scene in Colorado.

Colorado online poker partnerships

Only existing Colorado casinos in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek are eligible to apply for a sports betting license to offer both retail and online sports betting.

Online poker in Colorado will likely run under similar restrictions.

That means online poker operators without a physical presence in the state will need to find a local casino partner in order to legally launch.

While several will undoubtedly do so, none have to this point. Deals like this aren’t likely to be signed until legal online poker moves closer to becoming a reality inside the state.

Penn National Gaming does have a multi-year agreement with The Stars Group for online gaming market access in several states. Colorado is not currently one of those states.

Since Penn National Gaming operates Ameristar Casino Resort Spa Black Hawk in Colorado, that agreement could be extended to include CO online poker under an Ameristar Black Hawk license should online poker be legalized in Colorado.

How Colorado online poker will work

Colorado isn’t likely to try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to online poker.

That means once legislation authorizing the launch of the first CO online poker sites passes, legal online poker will launch as a fenced-in market inside Colorado.

Players who are 21 years or older and within state lines will be eligible to play online poker cash games and tournaments.

Online poker operators will use geolocation technology to ensure every player on these sites are inside the state.

Players will need to sign up for an online account with the operator of their choice and go through identity and age verification processes before they can play.

In the future, state lawmakers may enter into a multi-state compact to allow operators to share player pools with online poker sites in other states with legal online poker.

Online poker bonuses and rewards

Colorado online poker sites will most likely offer free play to attract new customers, just like most legal online poker sites do in other states.

Giving free bonus cash as an incentive to sign up has proven to be a successful poker marketing strategy in other states.

PokerStars Pennsylvania offers you $30 in free play as long as you sign up using the PokerStars PA bonus code PLAY30 and deposit at least $20.

The offer includes $20 in free play and $10 in Spin and Go tickets.

You also get a ticket to a depositor freeroll event on the last Sunday of every month, featuring cash prizes and no entry fee.

You can also use the promo code STARS600 when you make their first deposit (or first three qualifying deposits within 60 days) to earn a 100% deposit match bonus of up to $600.

Poker In Colorado

You’ll need to earn redemption points to unlock the bonus. However, you get 5 points for every $1 paid in tournament fees or rake in most games and PokerStars PA releases the first $10 in bonus cash into your account once you earn your first 100 redemption points.

You can only receive the free-money bonus or the deposit bonus, not both.

PokerStars CO should roll out with something similar. Other online poker sites launching in Colorado will try to compete with this bonus structure.

Fund your online poker account

Colorado online poker operators are going to do everything they can to make getting money on and off the sites as easy as possible.

That means offering a variety of deposit and withdrawal options. This will include credit and debit cards, third-party payment processors like PayPal, and cash at CO casinos.

Depositing

CO sportsbooks plan to be as flexible as possible when it comes to depositing.

Standard deposit options at online sportsbooks include:

• Cash at the casino cage
• Credit cards
• Debit cards
• Electronic checks (ACH/VIP Preferred)
• Electronic wallets (PayPal/Skrill)
• Online bank transfers
• PayNearMe
• Prepaid cards
• Wire transfers

Expect CO online poker operators to offer the same options.

Withdrawing

Withdrawing tends to be slightly more challenging with many payment processors only sending money in one direction.

That means standard withdrawal options tend to be limited. Common withdrawal methods at sportsbooks are:

• Cash at the casino cage
• Check by mail
• Electronic check
• Electronic wallet
• Prepaid card
• Wire transfers

Expect CO online poker operators to offer the same options, but the exact methods available will vary from operator to operator.

Of course, customer support options will be available to make getting your money on and off CO online poker sites as easy as possible.

Live poker in Colorado

The truth is there is a healthy and vibrant live poker scene in Colorado. In 1990, Colorado voters approved limited-stakes gaming in the former mining towns of Cripple Creek, Central City, and Black Hawk.

The first limited-stakes casinos launched in these cities in October 1991. The maximum bet allowed was only $5 and casinos had to close from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. Slots, blackjack and poker were the only games authorized.

A small poker scene started and in 2008 it expanded when CO voters passed Amendment 50, raising the maximum bet to $100 and allowing the casinos to stay open 24 hours. Craps and roulette games were also authorized at the casinos.

There are now six live card rooms in Colorado, including:

• Ameristar Casino Poker Room: Black Hawk (22 tables)
• Golden Gates Casino Poker Parlour: Black Hawk (18 tables)
• Isle Casino Poker Room: Black Hawk (seven tables)
• Midnight Rose Poker Room: Cripple Creek (nine tables)
• Sky Ute Casino Poker Room (tribal casino): Ignacio (six tables)
• Ute Mountain Casino Poker Room (tribal casino): Towaoc (eight tables)

A proposal is also in the works that would allow Colorado casinos to remove the $100 betting limit. That could see the Colorado live poker scene expand even further.

Any further gambling expansion should be considered a plus for online poker. As CO laws regarding gambling are further relaxed the chances that online poker will be seriously considered increase.

Poker rooms in Colorado

There’s a decent sized live poker scene in Colorado with six live poker rooms operating across the state.

Walk into any one of the Colorado poker rooms on this list, and you’ll find securing a seat at affordable stakes is as easy as asking for one.

Ameristar Casino Poker Room: Black Hawk

Ameristar Black Hawk’s Poker Room has 22 tables. It offers variety of games and limits around the clock, seven days a week, including:

• 1-3-100 Spread Hold’em
• 2-5-100 Spread Hold
• 30-60 Limit Hold’em
• 50-100 Limit Hold’em
• 2-5-100 Spread Big-O

Amenities include tableside food service, in-room chair massages, mobile charging ports at every seat and comps for live poker play.

Comps include $.50 mycash® (=$1 comp for food) per hour of live play.

Jackpots and High Hands promotions include a Primary Bad Beat Jackpot and $25,000 Mini Bad Beat Jackpot.

Golden Gates Casino Poker Parlour: Black Hawk

The Golden Gates Casino Poker Parlour has 18 tables. It offers a variety of spread cash games and tournaments.

In fact, the Golden Gates Casino and Poker Parlour is founder and home of the Colorado Poker Championship and an internationally-televised Heartland Poker Tour event and a Mid-States Poker Tour event.

Isle Casino Poker Room: Black Hawk

The Isle Casino Poker Room has seven tables. It offers a variety of cash games and tournaments around the clock.

Amenities include free beverages and tableside food service, 10 flat screen TVs around the room, dedicated restrooms, smoking terrace, and a cigarette and snack vending machine.

Pokerstars In Colorado Real Money

Midnight Rose Poker Room: Cripple Creek

The Midnight Rose Poker Room has nine tables open Tuesday through Sunday. It spreads $1/$2-100 and $1/$2-$20 Texas Hold’em daily with $5/$10 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo every Thursday and $5/$10 Omaha Hi-Lo every Saturday, plus weekend tournaments.

Amenities include meal service.

Sky Ute Casino Poker Room (tribal casino): Ignacio

The Sky Ute Casino Poker Room has six tables offering spread cash games and tournaments.

Ute Mountain Casino Poker Room (tribal casino): Towaoc

The Ute Mountain Casino Poker Room has eight tables offering spread cash games and tournaments.

The state of Colorado bucks the trend among American states, most of which create complex and headache-inducing legislation regarding gambling. Colorado’s gaming regulations are downright pithy compared to other states.

The state government of Colorado is mostly interested in blocking the type of gambling that involves organized crime. That means they aren’t all that interested in busting individuals for hosting home games or gambling on the Internet, but the regulations that exist to include some poker restrictions. The end result is that, in The Centennial State, home games are legal (if they follow a few rules and regs), and casino poker is easy to find. Colorado is a relatively poker-friendly state.

Playing Poker & the Law in Colorado

There is no shortage of poker players in the state of Colorado, but many of them may not be 100% clear on how the laws of their state view their poker activity.

The first thing that poker players in Colorado need to know: Poker is considered gambling by state law. This is asserted by the definition of gambling Colorado employs, found in Section 18-10-102, whereby games that are 'contingent' on chance, whether 'in whole or in part,' are considered gambling and thereby subject to the state's gambling laws.

The characterization was also supported by the Colorado Supreme Court in 2010 when the court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court's ruling that poker constituted gambling.

What's the practical impact of that legal reality? In a nutshell: only games of real-money poker that are specifically legal per state law are allowed, and all other games are on questionable legal ground.
That naturally leads to the next question of what types of poker Colorado law specifically permits. You have two ways to play real-money poker and remain in complete compliance with Colorado law. The first is to play at a regulated casino in one of the towns designated for regulated gambling in the state (Blackhawk, Central City and Cripple Creek). You'll find poker rooms at plenty, including Colorado Belle and Casino Black Hawk.

The second is to take advantage of a part of Colorado law that recognizes the right of those in the state to participate in so-called 'social gambling.' As laid out in Section 18-10-102 of Colorado's statutes, social gambling occurs when no party profits from running the game, all participants have a valid social relationship and no businesses or non-persons are involved.

Finally: as of this article, the list of legal charitable gambling options in Colorado did not include poker.

Is Gambling / Poker Legal in Colorado?

Evidence of Colorado’s liberal poker law is the fact that the penalties for illegal poker play aren’t very harsh. If you read section 18-10-103 of the State Penal Code, you’ll see that “ . . . a person who engages in gambling commits a class 1 petty offense.” That means breaking existing poker laws results in a penalty that isn’t enough as harsh as a misdemeanor; essentially a small fine. Break the state’s gaming law and you’re most likely to get the legal equivalent of a slap on the wrist.

When it comes to playing the game online, the law is less clear. In section 18-10-106 of state law, it states that “Whoever knowingly transmits or receives gambling information by telephone, telegraph, radio, semaphore, or other means or knowingly installs or maintains equipment for the transmission or receipt of gambling information commits a class 3 misdemeanor.”

A class 3 misdemeanor is a little more than a slap on the wrist, but as of this writing, no one has been prosecuted for this offense. Consult a lawyer if you plan on playing online poker in Colorado and want to make sure you’re not breaking the law, though it seems clear that any sort of online wagering is against state law.

Are Home Poker Games Legal?

As in most states, home poker games in Colorado are legal if they follow a handful of simple restrictions. As stated before, the state government is concerned almost exclusively with home games related to organized crime. The state law goes so far as to say specifically that Colorado wants to “ . . . avoid restricting participation by individuals in sport and social pastimes which are not for profit, do not affect the public, and do not breach the peace.”

Learn About Other State Laws

That means that a private home poker game is legal as long as it is kept in private and is not operated for profit. In Colorado, the game’s host can play and even collect winnings, but is not allowed to charge any sort of entry fees or rake any pots.

Coloradans enjoy some of the most relaxed anti-gambling laws in the country, as long as they follow the few restrictions written into the state code. Obey the law, don’t rake your home game pots, and (if you’re really worried about being in trouble with law enforcement) avoid playing online poker within state lines.

You can find more information about poker and gambling laws in Colorado here: http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251779563698&ssbinary=true