In 1990, Colorado voters passed a constitutional amendment allowing limited gaming only in the cities of Central City, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek. Limited gaming is defined as “the use of slot machines and the card games of blackjack and poker, each game having a maximum single bet of five dollars.”

The three mountain towns first tried the legislative route, but failed to make any headway with a bill in the Colorado General Assembly. Then, with the help of powerful lobbyist Freda Poundstone, they decided to push legalized gambling as a preservation effort, and landed Amendment 4 on the November 1990 ballot.

Amendment 4 called for allowing “limited stakes gaming” in the three towns, with $5 maximum bets. The only games allowed would be blackjack, poker, and slot machines, and only between 8 a.m. and 2 a.m.

The measure also included specific language about restricting gambling to certain gaming districts and requiring all gaming establishments to have architectural designs that were common to the towns from 1875 to World War I. The existence of some of the larger establishments in the towns does raise some questions about their historical accuracy.

The proposal also laid out a clear financial arrangement: The state could tax casinos up to 40 percent. At the end of the year, after paying for administrative expenses, the state would keep 50 percent of those taxes for its general fund.

Amendment 4 passed overwhelmingly, with 57.31 percent of Coloradans voting in favor of it. The measure called for legal gambling to begin on October 1, 1991, in all three towns.

Voters expanded the limits on gaming in 2008 through the passage of Amendment 50 to the Colorado Constitution, allowing games of roulette and craps, bets of up to $100, and extended casino hours of operation.

Gambling was prevalent in the state’s frontier towns throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. According to PlayColorado.com, Colorado was a bastion of gambling in the Old West. “Legendary figures like Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson were known to frequent casinos and saloons in the Rockies….However, changes to American law eventually shuttered unregulated casino gambling in Colorado.”

Legal gambling in the state is the most recent development. After the passage of the Colorado Limited Gaming Initiative in 1990, the next major change occurred in 2020, when online sports betting launched in May.

After the ballot measure passed in 1991, and after years of economic decline and deteriorating infrastructure, two small casinos opened in historic Black Hawk structures, launching a revitalization that would allow the City to eventually generate $20,000 in revenue per day and hosting more than 20,000 gaming visitors daily.

According to the Black Hawk website, over the past 30-plus years, more than $1 billion has been invested in land, casinos, and related development. Today, this picturesque mountain city generates more than 85 percent of Colorado’s gaming revenue and contributes more than $100 million annually in taxes to the State of Colorado for tourism, historical preservation, and higher education.

The City is poised for the development of Colorado’s first gaming-centric resort destination anticipated to grow the region’s incremental revenue by an estimated $197 million per year. The realignment of Gregory Street has paved the way for a pedestrian-friendly retail and hospitality paseo to broaden Black Hawk’s economy and appeal.

The City of Black Hawk is excited to announce that City Council voted to approve unlimited single-bet wagers in addition to allowing casinos to offer new games to their guests, solidifying the City as Colorado’s premier gaming resort destination.

After the approval of gaming in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek, the revenue has helped Gilpin County with gaming-related expenses, although the revenue often falls short of the actual expenses.