Online betting is now legal in Colorado as of May 2020. New legislation was signed into law by state regulators on May 1, 2020. Already, lots of online betting platforms have gone live, and Colorado residents and visitors to the state can easily place bets on lots of top sports. Most of the major online betting sites in Colorado offer lots of markets on the NFL, NBA, MLB, and many more sports and competitions.
Colorado betting sites make placing bets straightforward. All you need to do is sign up, prove you’re currently within the state borders, and then make a deposit. Once you’ve added money to your account, you’ll be able to bet on any of the available sports, and most sites have a lot of variety to choose from. If you’re outside Colorado, it’s a bit more difficult to place a bet, but it depends on which state you live in.
Colorado Betting Rules
If you’re betting in Colorado, you’ll need to be aware of the rules. While sports betting is legal now, that doesn’t mean it’s unregulated, and there are lots of rules over how you can place bets both online and in person. These rules are put in place to ensure that the industry is fair and that bettors are protected. Colorado betting rules include age and location restrictions. Anyone signing up to place a bet online in Colorado needs to be at least 21 years old.
On top of that, Colorado sportsbooks can only accept bets from people within the state borders. You can sign up for a Colorado sportsbook if you’re out of the state, but when it comes to placing a bet, you won’t be able to until you’ve proven that you’re inside the state. Online betting sites use GPS location to verify that you’re in Colorado before you can bet.
Do You Need to Live in Colorado to Place Sports Bets Online?
No, Colorado sportsbooks are available to anyone. However, you will have to be in the state when you place a bet. This means that visitors to the state can sign up and play when they’re in Colorado. They just won’t be able to use the site to place bets when they go back to their home state.
You can still sign up to Colorado sportsbooks and browse the betting markets they offer, but you’ll need to verify your location before playing. This is done using GPS location tracking and will work on both regular online sportsbooks and mobile sportsbooks.
The Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission regulates Colorado online sportsbooks. This organization helps to ensure that any sports betting sites are fair as well as setting the rules on who can bet. All sportsbooks need to be licensed by the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission to operate legally within the state.
Other US States with Legal Online Sports Betting
If you’re not living in Colorado, you can still place bets online. Either travel to Colorado to place bets or to another state that offers legal online betting. Many US states have now legalized sports betting, and quite a few are beginning to allow online betting too. Here’s a full list of Us states which now allow sports betting:
- Nevada
- Delaware
- New Jersey
- Mississippi
- West Virginia
- New Mexico
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Arkansas
- New York
- Iowa
- Oregon
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Montana
- Tennessee
Not all of these states offer both online and in-person bets. A lot of states only allow in-person betting for now, while Tennessee is the only state that only permits online betting. If you want to place bets in any of these states, be sure to look up the rules before you bet. In most cases, you’ll need to be 21 to bet, but different states do have different laws on sports betting.
Thanks to the success of the early states that have licensed and regulated sports betting, it’s expected that more states will follow suit over the next few years. Online sports betting is generally well accepted in the US, and most sports fans like to be able to place a bet occasionally. On top of that, the states with legal sports betting now collect millions of dollars in extra taxes each year.