State voters opted in favor of a regulated market for Colorado gambling in November 2019, but only for retail and online sports gambling.

Online casino gambling in CO, as well as online poker, was not included and remains off the table, for now at least. If you’re looking to play casino games, you can of course visit one of the 30+ land-based casinos in Colorado.

CO Online Gambling

• Colorado Online Casinos: Not legal
• Colorado Online Sports Betting: Legal and live
• Colorado Online Poker: Not legal
  

Regulating online casinos in Colorado is not on the agenda as it stands. But given the number of casinos in Colorado, you have to think that an expansion will eventually take place.

New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia are examples of states that offer both verticals.

The model in these states allows each retail casino to apply for an online license and either launch their own online casino brand or, partner with one of the more well-known online casino brands such as 888 or Unibet, for instance.

Colorado legalized sports betting in November 2019 and launched a regulated online/mobile market on May 1, 2020.

Four operators - BetMGM, BetRivers, DraftKings, and FanDuel - were ready from day one and the market has seen launch after launch ever since.

Today, the Colorado sports betting market boasts a bigger collection of online sportsbooks than New Jersey with local CO casino operators, international betting companies, and some of America’s most famous gambling brands among the sportsbooks available.

As mentioned then, there are more Colorado sportsbooks that you can shake a stick at. But it’s not only the number of options which is impressive but so to the diversity.

For instance, there are the names you will find in each legal US gambling market such as FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM, companies from overseas like PointsBet, Betfred Sports, and PlayUp, and also local casino brands that have added an online sportsbook to their existing offering, BetWildwood Sportsbook, and Sky Ute Sportsbook two such examples.

Now, with the choice of online gambling sites in Colorado so varied, there’s a good chance that you may want to save time browsing every Colorado gambling site and focus on the best options instead.

So, here are the top gambling sites in Colorado, currently.

Best Colorado Gambling Sites

1. PointsBet → Unique types of bets
2. DraftKings → Multiple payment options
3. FanDuel → Easy to use
4. BetMGM → Many sports to live stream
5. BetRivers → 1X playthrough on bonus
6. William Hill → Distinguished betting operator
7. Betway → Sleek sportsbook & app
8. BetFred Sports → Vastly experienced sportsbook
   
9. SI Sportsbook → No playthrough on bonus

Colorado state laws on online gambling permit online sports betting but not online casinos or online poker. Whether or not CO gambling is expanded in the future remains to be seen but for now, you will only be able to use online sportsbooks if you want to gamble online in Colorado.

Colorado Online Sports Betting: How the Market Works

In order for CO sports betting operators to be awarded a license, they need to partner with a land-based casino in Colorado, a rule that is familiar in most legal betting states.

As part of the regulations, CO casinos can partner with a land-based operator and an internet operator, or use the same partner for both retail and online betting.

Every one of the 33 casinos across Colorado can team up with an internet sports betting operator with each casino eligible to offer one skin (brand) per license.

Meanwhile, there’s a 10% tax rate in place for Colorado betting companies, which will help fund the state water plan, among other things.

The desire for gambling has existed for a long time in the Centennial State.

Following the blanket ban on gambling in the US, the industry began to slowly make its way back around the time of the Great Depression. In CO, limited forms of gambling were legalized and introduced in bars during the 1930s.

But it wasn’t until 1991 when the state decided upon setting foot into casino gambling. Three casinos were built in three historical towns by way of trying to regenerate the historic sites and raise money through taxes.

While legal gambling began to take hold, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) which banned sports betting anywhere in the states other than Nevada, put pay to any expansion plans.

However, not to be deterred, and perhaps with half an eye on New Jersey’s momentum toward legalizing sports betting, Colorado did broaden its gambling offering by legalizing Daily Fantasy Sports in 2016.

Following the decision of the Supreme Court to lift the federal ban (PASPA) on sports betting, it was always going to be a matter of when, not if, Colorado would look to make sports betting legal. A referendum in November 2019 saw residents pass Colorado Proposition DD and authorize the bill.