A new law signed in June by Colorado Governor Jared Polis gives the state’s Division of Gaming more power to shut down unlicensed gray-area casinos that pay cash or crypto prizes for slot-like games played in so-called “adult gaming arcades.”
The law resulted from an investigation by KMGH-TV/Denver7, the local ABC affiliate, that used hidden cameras to track activity in the adult gaming arcades, also known as “gray casinos,” usually located in strip malls. The investigation found that the operator often got around Colorado’s gaming laws by paying off jackpots in cryptocurrency. Some of the more brazen operators simply paid off in cash.
The director of Colorado’s Division of Gaming, Dan Hartman, has pledged to eliminate the illegal market completely, and will use investigative powers granted under the law to weed out the illegal casinos from legitimate arcade businesses.
The City of Aurora, which is the third largest city in Colorado, is also taking steps to fight the problem. Curtis Gardner, one of the city’s councilors, recently passed new regulations that will ban the use of the arcades for gambling, and will ban cryptocurrency payment of winnings.
“We’ll be working to get this gray market out of Colorado,” Hartman told Denver7. “We can bring our experts in to talk about what is and what isn’t legal and maybe make it easier for them to tackle this problem.”
