2023 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 18 - CRIMINAL CODE (§§ 18-1-101 — 18-26-102)
Article 10 - GAMBLING (§§ 18-10-101 — 18-10-108)
Section 18-10-102 - Definitions

As used in this article 10, unless the context otherwise requires:

• (1) "Gain" means the direct realization of winnings; "profit" means any other realized or unrealized benefit, direct or indirect, including without limitation benefits from proprietorship, management, or unequal advantage in a series of transactions.

• (2) "Gambling" means risking any money, credit, deposit, or other thing of value for gain contingent in whole or in part upon lot, chance, the operation of a gambling device, or the happening or outcome of an event, including a sporting event, over which the person taking a risk has no control, but does not include:
  • (a) Bona fide contests of skill, speed, strength, or endurance in which awards are made only to entrants or the owners of entries;
  • (b) Bona fide business transactions which are valid under the law of contracts;
  • (c) Other acts or transactions now or hereafter expressly authorized by law;
  • (d) Any game, wager, or transaction that is incidental to a bona fide social relationship, is participated in by natural persons only, and in which no person is participating, directly or indirectly, in professional gambling;
  • (e) Repealed.
  • (f) Any use of or transaction involving a crane game, as defined in section 44-30-103 (9); or
  • (g) Sports betting conducted in accordance with part 15 of article 30 of title 44 and applicable rules of the limited gaming control commission.

• (3) "Gambling device" means any device, machine, paraphernalia, or equipment that is used or usable in the playing phases of any professional gambling activity, whether that activity consists of gambling between persons or gambling by a person involving the playing of a machine; except that the term does not include a crane game, as defined in section 44-30-103 (9).

• (4) "Gambling information" means a communication with respect to any wager made in the course of, and any information intended to be used for, professional gambling. In the application of this definition the following shall be presumed to be intended for use in professional gambling: Information as to wagers, betting odds, or changes in betting odds. Legitimate news reporting of an event for public dissemination is not gambling information within the meaning of this article.

• (5) "Gambling premises" means any building, room, enclosure, vehicle, vessel, or other place, whether open or enclosed, used or intended to be used for professional gambling. In the application of this definition, any place where a gambling device is found is presumed to be intended to be used for professional gambling.

• (6) "Gambling proceeds" means all money or other things of value at stake or displayed in or in connection with professional gambling.

• (7) "Gambling record" means any record, receipt, ticket, certificate, token, slip, or notation given, made, used, or intended to be used in connection with professional gambling.

• (8) "Professional gambling" means:
  • (a) Aiding or inducing another to engage in gambling, with the intent to derive a profit therefrom; or
  • (b) Participating in gambling and having, other than by virtue of skill or luck, a lesser chance of losing or a greater chance of winning than one or more of the other participants.

• (9) "Repeating gambling offender" means any person who is convicted of an offense under section 18-10-103 (2) or sections 18-10-105 to 18-10-107 or sections 18-20-103 to 18-20-114 or sections 44-30-809 to 44-30-811 or 44-30-818 to 44-30-831 or 44-30-837, within five years after a previous misdemeanor conviction under these sections or a former statute prohibiting gambling activities, or at any time after a previous felony conviction under any of the mentioned sections. A conviction in any jurisdiction of the United States of an offense which, if committed in this state, would be professional gambling shall warrant a prosecution in this state as a repeating gambling offender.

• (10) "Vintage slot machine" means any model slot machine, as defined in section 44-30-103 (30), that was introduced on the market prior to January 1, 1984.

Amended by 2019 Ch. 347, § 13, eff. 5/1/2020 only if, at the November 2019 statewide election, a majority of voters approve the ballot question submitted pursuant to section 44-30-1514. Ballot question (Proposition DD) was approved at 9/5/2019 election.

Amended by 2018 Ch. 14, § 13, eff. 10/1/2018.

L. 71: R&RE, p. 477, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-10-102. L. 79: (2)(e) added, p. 557, § 3, effective July 1. L. 84: (2)(e) repealed, p. 437, § 2, effective April 30. L. 91: (9) amended, p. 1582, § 8, effective June 4. L. 92: (9) amended, p. 2174, § 26, effective June 2. L. 94: (10) added, p. 19, § 1, effective March 2. L. 95: (2) and (3) amended, p. 44, § 1, effective March 17. L. 2018: IP, (2)(f), (3), (9), and (10) amended, (SB 18 -034), ch. 239, p. 239, § 13, effective October 1. L. 2019: (2)(d) and (2)(f) amended and (2)(g) added, (HB 19-1327), ch. 3232, p. 3232, § 13, effective (see editor's note).

Section 16(2) of chapter 347 (HB 19-1327), Session Laws of Colorado 2019, provides that changes to this section take effect May 1, 2020, only if, at the November 2019 statewide election, a majority of voters approve the ballot question submitted pursuant to § 44-30-1514 . That ballot question, referred to the registered electors as proposition DD, was approved on November 5, 2019, and was proclaimed by the Governor on December 20, 2019. The vote count for the measure was as follows:

FOR: 800,745

AGAINST: 756,712