Colorado lawmakers reconsider prop bets ban, press forward with ban on betting with credit cards

Lawmakers in Colorado are on a tight schedule with a draft law proposing changes to the state’s gambling sector. Before gaining traction recently, the sports betting proposal was stripped of the provisions banning prop bets.

That’s the case for Senate Bill 131 (SB 131), a draft law Concerning protections against abusive practices in sport betting. The bill proposes to overhaul a range of regulations, including the implementation of a ban on sports betting with credit cards and daily deposit limits to no more than five per bettor in a 24-hour period. Other provisions in SB 131 sought to change the advertising rules for sports betting companies, as well as the establishment of a framework for penalties in cases of violations. Importantly, the draft law also sought to ban the popular prop bets, which enable bettors to wager on specific aspects of a sports event. Often, prop bets represent a mixture of several wagers in order for the bettor to win. Considering the popularity of prop bets, responsible gambling advocates have been vocal about the impact of such wagers and their addictive nature. Yet, amid a tight state budget, Colorado lawmakers decided to remove the text about the prop bets ban from the proposed legislation.

SB 131 successfully cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee with the prop bet ban text being removed earlier this week. Now, the betting law will have to pass the full Senate before going to the House. In order to become a law, the betting legislation also has to successfully progress through the House and this needs to happen before the end of the legislative session which is next month. Sen. Matt Ball, one of the primary sponsors of SB 131, who was recently quoted by Colorado Public Radio, described the removal of the prop bet ban text as a friendly amendment. He explained that this change will decrease the cost of the proposed legislation from a loss of an estimated $2.4m to only $800,000. Sen. Ball acknowledged that the projected loss of $800,000 would be due to the ban of the use of credit cards for sports betting in Colorado. He added that the fiscal impact of the betting bill will be limited by wagers by individuals with a gambling problem confirming that bettors who use credit cards to place sports bets don’t have the money in the first place.