Colorado Takes Hard Line on Casino Cheating, Launches Lifetime Bans

By: Noelle Phillips | Canyon City Daily Record

The state's Limited Gaming Control Commission launched the 'involuntary exclusion' list in 2024.

Serial swindlers and men prone to violence are among the seven people Colorado’s gambling regulators have banned for life from casinos since the state created a system last year for barring problem bettors.

The Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission in July 2024 added the first person to its “involuntary exclusion” list, which is posted online and distributed to casinos in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek so security officers and other casino workers can identify the offenders and eject them if they show up to gamble.

Those on the list are also prohibited from placing wagers on sports betting apps.

“We look at, are they a detriment to the gaming industry? Whether it’s through the integrity of the game, whether it’s corrupt influences, maybe it’s because they are violent in a casino,” said Christopher Schroeder, director of the Colorado Division of Gaming.

On Thursday, the commissioners voted unanimously to add two more people to the list — one for attacking a gaming division police investigator in a Black Hawk casino and one for attempting to cheat and for arguing with dealers and others who operate various games in multiple casinos.

The bans are permanent, although the two people added to the list Thursday have 30 days to appeal.

Colorado also has a voluntary exclusion list that people battling gambling addiction can put themselves on, which bans them from casinos and sports betting apps for up to five years. That list, which includes nearly 1,000 people, is not public.

Involuntary exclusion lists are not new in the United States, but Colorado didn’t create one until it was recommended during a 2023 review of the state’s gaming regulations. The procedure was finalized in 2024.

“It’s like what Nevada called the ‘Black Book,’” Schroeder said. “It’s been around a very long time.”

Some states have lengthy exclusion lists. For example, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board lists hundreds of people who are not allowed in that state’s casinos. It also has separate lists for internet gaming and for video gaming terminals.

One reason Pennsylvania’s exclusion list is so lengthy is that a high number of people have been caught leaving their children alone in parked cars while they spend hours inside casinos. Schroeder said Colorado doesn’t have a similar problem because its casinos are farther away from population centers.

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