In Colorado, casino gambling only is legal in Black Hawk, Cripple Creek and Central City. Those operations generated more than $100 million in taxes for the state last year. However, about 30 illegal internet sweepstakes cafes operate across the state, primarily in Grand Junction, Denver and Pueblo. They offer simulated gambling devices that give cash payouts.
House Bill 1234, which recently was heard in the state House Business Affairs and Labor Committee, would shut down the so-called internet gambling parlors. The bill would call slot machines games of skill and games of chance. Currently, Colorado law exempts games of skill. The bill also would ban awarding cash prizes.
Colorado Skill Games Association Executive Director Chris Howes said, “We have a grave disagreement with what law enforcement is doing,” referring to recent raids on three gambling cafes in Denver. He said the games confiscated in the raids were games of skill, not chance. “If the law is so clear that police can raid our businesses, then why is House Bill 1234 needed? We would say just vote no,” Howes said.
Michelle Lyng, a spokesperson for the group Protect Our Neighborhoods, said the arcades are illegal, even if they are games of skill. “Anyone who’s using the defense that these are purely games of skill is not being honest about what defines a slot machine in Colorado,” she said.
