Colorado is known for being one of the more liberal states in the United States, with legal marijuana for example. Land-based games of poker are also legal, with cities such as Black Hawk, Cripple Creek, and Central City offering dozens of land-based casinos to the public. However, this does not extend to online poker and real-money online poker is not legal in Colorado.
It seems strange but, in a state where it is possible to legally bet on sports online, including horse racing and participate in daily fantasy sports, there is no legislation in place for traditional online poker. It is worth pointing out at this stage that that is possible to play at sweepstakes online poker sites, but traditional real-money online poker remains illegal.
You only have to look at gamblecolorado.com to see the number of poker tournaments available in Colorado. The poker games are widely available at the state’s casinos and it is possible to participate in walk-in games plus prestigious events including the Colorado Poker Championship. It does not matter whether you are an amateur player or an experienced player wanting to play in a World Series of Poker main event, you will have the opportunity to do so in Colorado.
Limit and no-limit Texas Hold’em are two of the most popular poker games in the state and these can be enjoyed in one of the many world-class poker rooms. Therefore, it would seem like a natural progression to allow legal online poker tournaments to be played in Colorado.
The best reason why Colorado needs online poker is to stop people from entering online poker tournaments illegally. With the way things have changed in the world recently, it is not so easy for people to attend a land-based casino. So, for those wanting to play their favorite game, they have been forced to look for an online alternative. However, this comes with a risk as the websites in question have not been granted a license to operate in Colorado and this can lead to problems, especially in terms of withdrawing winnings.
If you were to participate in a game of online poker in Colorado and something went wrong, there is nothing you can do. Any money you have lost because of a technical error with the website, you will not legally be able to get back as there is no monitoring and licensing in place within the state. So, it would make sense for Colorado to make online poker legal so players can enjoy playing without worrying about what could happen if something goes wrong.
In addition, offering legal online poker games would increase the revenue to the state. A percentage of all takings from online poker games would go to the state government and help to fund projects within Colorado. There is a federal tax in place on gambling wins in Colorado and the casinos at Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek are subject to a gaming tax. The amount of money the casinos pay is based on gross profits and the rate goes up as the profits get bigger.
This could easily be applied to online poker gaming and add an additional revenue stream to the state.
