First Colorado Casino Town Approves Higher LimitsOnly 13 Cripple Creek Residents Said No to Referendum |
|
Higher limits are coming to at least one Colorado casino town.
Residents of Cripple Creek overwhelmingly voted in favor to expand the amount that can be wagered in its casinos from a $5 maximum to $100 and also to erase a law that forced casinos to close from 2 a.m.-8 a.m.
A statewide referendum that was passed in November gave the residents of Colorado’s three casino towns the right to decide if loss-limits and restrictive hours of operations should be lifted.
Cripple Creek residents voted 267-13 in favor of expanding gambling in the hopes of attracting more tourists to the town of about 1,200 residents. Cripple Creek is home to 17 casinos.
The other two major Colorado casino towns are Black Hawk and Central City. Residents of Black Hawk will vote on this Jan. 13, 2009, and Central City residents will head to the polls Jan. 20.
Casinos were allowed to return to Colorado in 1991 with a set of strict rules on loss-limits. Players could not lose more than $5 on a bet, and that included poker games.
Colorado collected $112 million in gambling taxes in 2007, and state officials estimate that that amount will double to around $300 million in each of the next five years if all towns approve the expansion.
Ten percent of the new tax generated will go to the hometowns of the casinos, 12 percent to the home-counties, with the other 78 percent going to help fund the state’s community college system.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
