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You may soon be able to place sports bets with Pointsbet.com from Colorado, just not at the moment. Online sports betting is still accessible from the state via a number of top online sportsbooks.
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PointsBet.com announced this week that it has entered a multi-year partnership with Double Eagle Hotel and Casino, one of Colorado's leading casino and hotel destinations. The partnership will include the launch of both premium retail and mobile sportsbook operations in Colorado, pending legislative approval.
PointsBet bet will work with the casino to build out a multi-faceted sports entertainment venue centrally located in Cripple Creek, Colorado – a National Historic Landmark.
While convenient, the casino is a one hour drive one way from both Denver and Colorado Springs, two of the state's largest metropolitan areas.
A bill to allow sports betting, entitled H 1327, passed through the Colorado House and the Senate’s Finance and Appropriations committees and now heads to the ballot box.
Colorado Voters will make the final decision this November when an initiative to expand gambling in the state will appear on the election ballot.
There is no guarantee voters will be on board. In 2014, 70 percent of voters rejected a proposal to expand racetrack casinos beyond the three towns where casinos currently exist - Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek.
If it passes, sports betting could be offered by the 17 companies in a state that already has gambling licenses and operate 33 casinos.
“If you are one of those 17 companies, then you can apply for a master license which allows you to have one physical sportsbook license in one of your casinos and then it allows you an opportunity to contract with an online sports operator,” Garnett said. “I think that’s the right size. I think you maintain the voter intent of keeping the operation of gaming in the three gaming communities (Cripple Creek, Black Hawk and Central City).”
Statewide mobile wagering would be possible under the terms of the legislation. The online operator would have to go before state regulators to be approved for operation.
Taxes derived from sports betting would go to the Colorado Water Plan, which was created by former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper as a way to prepare the state for its future water needs.
Pointsbet would be among the early beneficiaries.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
