Colorado Eliminates Betting Limit Restrictions And Previously-Banned Games
May 1, 2021, will go down as a historic day in Colorado gambling history. Amendment 77, which voters passed with more than 60% support in November 2020, officially came into effect when the clock struck midnight, ending a policy restricting maximum bets to $100.
A Whole New Dynamic
A trip into the mountains to any of Colorado’s three casino towns provides a unique experience many remember vividly. Small, quaint casinos have been the source of many positive memories in gamblers’ minds, but those memories have also been missing the ability to bet more than $100 on table games. Specific games available in many casinos around the nation, such as baccarat, pai gow tiles, keno, and other specialty table games, were also guaranteed to be absent from those memories.
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As of the beginning of the month, Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek all will have their own autonomy to offer new games and set betting limits as they wish.
Said Black Hawk Mayor David Spellman, “Lifting the betting limits and adding the full complement of casino games brings a whole new dynamic to the City of Black Hawk. We anticipate tapping into a new market as our casino’s entertainment offerings increase and the excitement builds.”
The largest of the three casino towns in the state, Black Hawk, has multiple resort-style properties, and Mayor Spellman also spoke towards his hopes that such freedoms will result in Black Hawk becoming more of a regional draw.
Keno, Pai Gow, And Baccarat Now Legal In Colorado
In February, Colorado’s approved new forms of blackjack, poker, Big Six Wheel, and casino war to be spread at casinos within the state. Additionally, the previously mentioned games of keno, pai gow tiles, and forms of baccarat are also now legally offered.
Monarch, one of the newest and more upscale Black Hawk casinos, had baccarat tables ready on May 1. The casino has also announced its plan to increase limits throughout May and introduce keno into its list of offered games later in the month.
Big News for Colorado Poker
Poker was another area in which the state’s previous $100 limit negatively affected gameplay. Big-bet games such as No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha are commonly spread across the country and abroad but were absent in Colorado’s cash games before May 1.
Instead, an adapted form of “Spread-Limit” Hold’em was played at low- and mid-stakes. Because of the betting limit, players could opt to size bets as low as an agreed minimum, but only as high as $100 per bet. As such, anytime a pot got over $100, a player was limited to a bet of no more than $100.
Black Hawk’s two largest poker rooms in Ameristar and Golden Gates quickly adapted their lineups. That has already led to long waiting lists for 1-3, 2-5, and 5-10 NL Hold’em games within their first week of operation, a trend that should continue well into the summer.
Gambling in Colorado Continues to Grow and Evolve
The history of gambling in Colorado dates back to the early 1990s when voters passed Amendment 4 in 1990 and enacted it into law in October of the following year. The legislation called for limited hours of operation (8 a.m. to 2 a.m.) with a $5 max bet, and the only legal games offered were slot machines, blackjack, and poker.
Such rules remained in place until 2008 when voters approved measures for 24-hour gaming and to add craps and roulette while increasing the maximum betting limits to $100. Thirteen years later, cities and casinos are now allowed to set their caps as they see fit.
May 1 also marked the first anniversary of legal sports betting in Colorado. Properties such as Ameristar Black Hawk have responded by opening retail sportsbooks, further adding to Colorado’s draw as a gaming and resort destination. , March 2021 saw more than $300 million in total wagers for the second time in state history, a number that has increased in almost every month-over-month period of the state’s one-year history with legal sports betting.
Said Monarch’s Director of Marketing Erica Ferris, “There won’t be a gaming-based reason to make a trip to Las Vegas anymore. I think this is going to be really exciting for Colorado.”
Cripple Creek will also be receiving its first luxury casino, resort, and spa in 2022, with Full House Resorts’ announcement of its plans to open the Chamonix Casino Hotel.
Hill Kerby comes from a background of poker, sports, and psychology, bringing all of them to the table with his writing. An overall fan and proponent of competition, Hill looks forward to the continued growth of all forms of betting as more markets open across the country.
