Simply put Colorado legalized gambling way back when in two areas, Central City/BlackHawk and Cripple Creek. The reason behind these two cities or areas was that they were struggling gold mining towns that needed tourist or travelers to generate income. The two areas have now been taken over by the gambling industry.

The city should consider allowing card rooms in the area. I would think locals and tourism would be large enough to support card rooms

@acesuited likely in the near future?

The Colorado legislature passed an omnibus (multi-provisional) law in 1938 that outlawed casino-style gambling. They gave it a 50-year expiration date, which meant that in 1988 they needed to re-legislate any of the provisions. They forgot to re-legislate the gambling ban, which meant that any municipality could legally establish gambling (and Black Hawk/Central City and Cripple Creek DID) before the then-governor quickly called an emergency session of the legislature to re-institute the ban. Since there was no state ban on gambling at the moment those two cities established it, it was a legal maneuver and the state couldn't retroactively declare it illegal. But it made sure there wouldn't be gambling anywhere else in the state unless the legislature specifically OKed it afterwards.