Discovering Colorado Poker: Laws, Events, and Venues
The mountainous state of Colorado is perhaps best known in popular culture for being one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana. Thankfully, they are also quite permissive when it comes to gambling – as long as it’s legal land based casino gambling. Online gambling, however, is still illegal.
Gambling has been present in the territory even before Colorado became a state. The heavily male frontier population of the mid-19th Century often passed time by wagering on dice and card games.
In fact, one of the first famous card sharks in poker history, “Poker Alice” Ivers started her career in the saloons of Leadville, CO in the 1880’s. She started playing cards seriously in order to sustain herself after the death of her first husband.
As for modern times, casino gaming became legal in the state in 1991. However, it is still only limited to 3 towns: Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek. These three towns now have around 40 licenced casinos among them, most often located in Black Hawk. According to Worldcasinodirectory.com’s numbers, 36 of them have poker rooms as well.
Colorado has been home to such poker events in recent years as the WSOP Circuit, the Mid-Stakes Poker Tour, and their very own Colorado Poker Championship (CPC).
Famous Colorado Poker Players
Chance Kornuth was born in the state capital, Denver. He is a 2-time WSOP gold bracelet winner, and has over $8 million in live tournament earnings. In 2020, he played an online high stakes heads-up PLO challenge against Phil Galfond but lost.
High roller Steve O’Dwyer from Colorado Springs, CO has a whopping $30.476 million in live tournament earnings. Not only does he top the Colorado all time money list on Hendon, but he’s in the top 10 on the USA money list as well.
In January 2015, O’Dwyer won the $100,000 NLHE Super High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $1.873 million. That is the biggest single live tournament cash of his career to date. He also has over $7.2 million in online MTT cashes.
Online Poker in Colorado
Online Poker Legislation in Colorado
Colorado’s gambling laws focus on regulating land-based casinos and sports betting, which are legal in specific areas like Black Hawk and Central City. However, the state has not introduced legislation to regulate or legalize online poker. This means that while online poker is not explicitly illegal, there are no licensed online poker platforms within the state. Players who wish to participate in online poker games typically use offshore poker sites.
Best Online Poker Sites in Colorado
Live Poker in Colorado
Live Poker Legislation in Colorado
Colorado Revised Statutes §18-10-101 et seq covers gambling in the state penal code; while §12-60-101 covers horse racing specifically. Casino gaming became legal in 1991 with the passage of the Colorado Limited Gaming Act.
“Limited Gaming” means that gambling is restricted to certain cities, certain games, and certain betting limits ($100 per wager maximum) in the state. Thankfully, poker is within the permitted games.
Licencing and regulation of the casinos are under the purview of the Gaming Division within the Colorado Department of Revenue.
Live Poker Venues in Colorado
At Bally’s Black Hawk in Black Hawk, CO, the poker room offers cash games and tournaments as well.
As for cash, they have $2/$100 Spread Limit Hold’em tables; as well as $5/$10 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better and $2/$100 Spread Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better tables. As for tournaments, they’re the proud home of the Colorado Poker Championship. It’s a tourney series that is held two times a year (winter and summer) with buy-ins ranging from $100 up to a $2,500 High Roller, and an $1,100 buy-in Main Event.
They’ve also hosted Mid-Stakes Poker Tour and Heartland Poker Tour events; as well as their very own Black Hawk Poker Open.
The Ameristar Black Hawk Casino, Resort & Spa is also located in Black Hawk. And they too have a poker room with a wide cash game selection. The information on their website is somewhat hazy, but we can assume that “No Limit” games refer to No Limit Hold’em; and “Pot Limit” Games refer to Pot Limit Omaha. In that case, they have NLHE cash games on $1/$3, $2/$5, and $5/$10 stakes; and PLO on $1/$3, $5/$5, and $5/$10 stakes.
You can also visit the poker room at the Monarch Casino Resort Spa in the same town.
Poker action outside Black Hawk is not nearly as ample as it is in Black Hawk. However, if you visit the other two Colorado towns with legal casinos, you can go play at the Midnight Rose Poker Room in Cripple Creek, CO. There, they have NLHE, PLO, and even 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo tournaments. However, alas, none of the casinos have poker rooms in Central City, CO – the best you can do there is play video poker machines.
![United States of America [USA]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/us.svg "United States of America [USA]"){kind=small}
