Colorado online gambling – your complete guide

Written by Lisa Stanojević

Checked by Paul P. •

Last updated on January 30, 2025

Colorado online gambling is a growing market. Colorado gambling laws don’t permit online casino games for real money, however, sports betting and daily fantasy sports (DFS) are regulated and part of the online gambling scene in CO.

Want to find out about all forms of legal gambling and gambling tax in Colorado? Read on to discover how to gamble and pay your taxes in Colorado state.

• Colorado gambling overview
• Colorado taxes
• Tax rates
• How to report your taxes
• Legal
• Sports betting
• Social casinos in CO
• Online poker
• Other gambling types
• Offline gambling in CO
• Safety
• FAQs

Colorado online gambling: everything you need to know in 2025

Colorado has embraced online gambling in select forms, with legal sports betting and daily fantasy sports (DFS) leading the market. However, online casinos and real-money online poker remain prohibited. Players can still access sweepstakes and social casinos for legal online gaming. Understanding how gambling works in the Centennial State also means knowing how taxes apply to your winnings.

Gambling winnings and taxes in Colorado

In Colorado, you have to pay taxes on gambling winnings. Whether you win from sports betting, DFS, horse racing, or even sweepstakes casinos, your earnings are subject to taxation. 

However, reporting requirements typically apply to larger winnings that meet IRS or state thresholds. Smaller amounts, like a $50 sweeps casino redemption, may not need to be reported.

What gambling winnings are taxable?

All gambling winnings in Colorado are taxable, including:

• Sports betting winnings (online and retail)
• DFS payouts
• Sweepstakes winnings
• Horse-racing and pari-mutuel betting
• Lottery and scratch-off winnings
• Bingo and charitable game earnings

Colorado gambling tax rates

The IRS imposes a 24% federal gambling tax on significant winnings, while Colorado taxes gambling winnings at a flat 4.4% state income tax rate. Federally, winnings over $5,000 are subject to mandatory 24% withholding, but all gambling income must be reported on your tax return — whether withheld or not.

How to report gambling winnings in Colorado

Here are three simple steps to follow to report your taxes:

1. Keep records. Maintain a log of your gambling activities, including dates, amounts wagered, winnings, and losses.
2. Check your W-2G form. If you win $600 or more, the gambling operator may issue a Form W-2G, which you must include in your tax return.
3. File your taxes. Report gambling income on your federal tax return using Form 1040, Schedule 1 for ‘Additional Income.’ If winnings meet the IRS threshold, you may also receive a Form W-2G from the casino or sportsbook. For Colorado residents, gambling winnings must also be reported on a Colorado Individual Income Tax Return (DR 0104).

Non-residents who win in Colorado may also need to report their winnings, depending on their home state’s tax laws. Visitors should check if their state offers tax credits to avoid double taxation.

Can you deduct gambling losses in Colorado?

You can indeed, however certain conditions must be met:

• You can deduct gambling losses only if you itemize deductions on your federal tax return.
• Your losses cannot exceed your reported winnings.
• Keep detailed records of wagers, receipts, and losses to substantiate deductions.

Colorado gambling sites by type — what’s legal?

Yes, but with limitations. Colorado allows online sports betting and DFS, but online casino gambling and online poker for real money are not permitted. Players can legally participate in sweepstakes casinos, which offer cash prizes.

The Colorado Division of Gaming regulates gambling in the state, ensuring a secure environment for players.

Sports betting in Colorado Legal since 2020

Colorado is the 19th state to legalize online sports betting in the US. The barrier for entry is fairly low, which means dozens of operators have entered the market since 2020. The same goes for DFS, which was legalized back in 2016. 

The Colorado online gambling scene offers players a couple of choices: retail sports betting and online sports betting, while several apps are available on mobile. Markets include local and international sporting events, while popular national leagues NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLS are readily available across all Colorado sportsbooks. 

Want to bet on college sports? You’re in luck: it’s one of the states where college sports betting is accepted. You can also bet on mixed martial arts, motorsports, tennis, snooker, rugby, golf, etc.

Conversely, both esports and high school sports betting is illegal. CO gambling sites where sports betting is permitted typically have welcome bonuses and promotions available for new and existing customers. The former often consist of free bets on your first deposit.

• Top operators represented
• Bet on college sports

• More major sportsbooks available

Online casinos in Colorado aren’t legal — check out sweeps casinos

When it comes to casinos and online gambling real money Colorado players are currently limited to sweepstakes casinos. On these sites you play casino games for cash prizes. How does it work? You need to purchase virtual currencies to play. Generally, the sweepstakes casino will offer a bonus for extra sweepstakes cash or credits.

Sweepstakes casinos have an array of games to play. These are similar to traditional online casinos and include online slots, video poker, blackjack, roulette, bingo, and keno to name a few.

At the same time, you can exchange sweepstakes cash for real money if you win. Some popular sweepstakes casinos in Colorado include Chumba Casino, Luckyland Slots, Funzpoints, and Hard Rock Social Casino.

• Sweepstakes casinos permitted

• No legal online casinos

Online poker — available at social casinos

Online poker for real money is not legal in Colorado at present. As with online casino games, you can play poker for amusement at sweepstakes casinos such as Global Poker. Coloradans can register an account for free and play Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and Caribbean Poker and enter daily tournaments and sit-and-go games. 

It’s not clear if or when Colorado gambling laws will accommodate online poker games. The last effort to bring legal online poker to Colorado was back in 2013. Nothing has changed since then. 

• Sweepstakes poker sites permitted

• No legal online poker sites

Other forms of gambling in CO

The state permits other forms of Colorado online gambling outside of the three most popular verticals (sportsbook, casino, poker). One example is daily fantasy sports, which is similar to sports betting. But instead of being pitted against bookmakers, patrons compete against each other.

Meanwhile, Coloradans can partake in charitable gaming activities across the state. The most popular of these is bingo, which is often used by non-profit organizations to raise funds. The state lottery is also well established with a variety of tickets available online and offline.

Finally, live and off-track horse racing is legal in Colorado. Arapahoe Park is currently the lone live horse-racing track in the state. Pari-mutuel betting is permitted at over 10 licensed retail venues and online betting sites.

Colorado lottery

Another form of legal Colorado online gambling is the state lottery, where games like Powerball, Mega Millions, and scratch cards are the most popular. Tickets are sold online and at retail stores. Since its inception, the Colorado lottery has given over $3 billion to projects all over the state.

Bingo

Thanks to Colorado’s charitable gaming laws — bingo and raffles are available throughout the state. It’s still very much an offline industry as online bingo is still not legal in the state. In most major cities in the state, you’ll find established bingo halls and bingo nights where you can try your luck at getting those winning numbers.

Horse racing

Horse racing has a long tradition in the state that stretches back to the 1950s when pari-mutuel betting was first legalized. Today both live and off-track racing (OTB) is available for bettors within the state.

Daily fantasy sports

Daily Fantasy sports have been legal since 2016 — you can play online gambling real money Colorado in tournaments and head-to-head matches. All the major sports like NBA and NFL are covered, you get to pick your team (with the caveat that you have a salary cap on how much you can spend on your roster of players).

Offline gambling in CO

Black Hawk, Central City, Cripple Creek, and Ignacio are home to some 40 casinos – making these towns the Vegas of the Rockies. In early 2021, Colorado residents voted to have limits at casinos removed. Over 59% were in favor of the amendment. But these won’t disappear entirely – instead, casinos will adopt limits of $500 to $1,000 per wager.

Some casinos operate 24-hours per day and collectively boast some 12,000 penny slot and video poker machines as well as popular table games like blackjack, roulette, and poker. You need to be 21 years or older to play at Colorado casinos, where free drinks are served to customers. 

Have Colorado online casinos affected online gambling in the state? Yes, especially since sports betting was legalized in 2019. Since then, a number of retail casinos have opened sports betting platforms, thereby giving customers outside of Black Hawk, Central City, Cripple Creek, and Ignacio the opportunity to bet from anywhere in the state.

How safe is gambling in CO?

Gambling in Colorado is safe when you play at licensed and regulated operators.

The Colorado Division of Gaming (CDG) is the state authority for regulated gambling in Colorado. As such, they regularly conduct compliance and revenue audits to ensure gambling sites are safe.

Colorado gambling operators need to adhere to some pretty strict rules, too. Not permitting customers under the age of 18 is just one of them, but more importantly, operators need to protect players at all times.

That means operators need to demonstrate their commitment to safety by giving you the necessary tools to gamble responsibly. We discuss these below. Naturally, some operators are more responsible than others – which is why we rate sites for safety in our reviews.

Keep an eye out for these symbols at safe sites:

FAQs