Colorado casinos are open for business, thanks to a pair of variance approvals exempting Teller and Gilpin Counties from provisions of Colorado Governor Jared Polis ‘safer-at-home’ order. Teller county is home to Cripple Creek casinos. Gilpin county is home to Black Hawk and Central City casinos. Gilpin County Commissioner Ron Engels said Sunday that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment approved a variance allowing the casinos in Black Hawk and Central City to open. TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - Casinos in Teller County will be allowed to remain open, even though the county’s dial level status moved to high risk for COVID-19 on Saturday. The announcement to.

Casinos are once again in a lurch.

In Colorado and across the nation, they’re bracing for the worst-case scenario.

Again.

Map Of Casinos In Colorado

That worst case is having to shut down as they did back in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Close to eight months later, casinos in Colorado are in an almost identical situation. The status in the three gaming towns and two counties could change at a moment’s notice.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) will make the ultimate decision based on whether the current surge warrants shuttering casinos.

In the middle of November, CPDHE and the state instituted a new classification dial for the state’s counties.

As David Farahi, COO of Monarch Casino and Resort and president of the Colorado Gaming Association (CGA), said to PlayColorado:

“I think it’s similar, but also very different because in March we’d never closed before. We didn’t know how long it was going to last, but there were a lot of huge questions. And today, although we don’t know what the state is going to do, I think there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

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Here is the latest on Colorado casinos, broken down by county.

Gilpin County

Casinos in Black Hawk and Central City are open.

Casino Open In Colorado Springs

But under guidelines from CDPHE announced in the middle of November, the casinos are once again without table games.

Casinos there also cannot sell alcohol after 11 p.m.

As of last week, casinos must limit capacity from 50% to 25%.

The county is currently classified as Level Orange: High risk on the COVID-19 color dial. This category falls under the “Safer At Home” category.

As of Jan. 14, Gilpin County remains in Level Orange.

Teller County

Casinos in Cripple Creek are open.

Unlike Gilpin, the casinos in Cripple Creek have lacked table games since they were brought back in mid-September.

A few weeks ago, there was fear that casinos in Teller would again close, but they got some good news when they were allowed to remain open.

But there are restrictions, including an occupancy limit to no more than 50 people in any room or no more than 25% of a room’s maximum occupancy, whichever is less.

As of Jan. 14, Teller County is still classified as Level Orange.

If neither county is able to slow the spread of coronavirus, the next category on the dial is Level Red: Severe Risk. This is the equivalent of a “Stay at Home” order.

If either county moves to that classification, casinos will more than likely have to close.

One of the reasons to feel optimism is the potential for the general population to get a COVID-19 vaccine by the spring or summer of 2021. So as Farahi added, there is kind of an end date out there.

“We know what it looks like to close. We know how to manage our business if, God forbid, that happens again. So we hope we won’t get closed down again. We’ve put a lot of processes in place to keep our team members and guests safe. I actually just received a note from one of our guests (on Tuesday night) that said how much they appreciated all the safety measures that we’ve put in place, and they feel very safe when they visit us. We just have to take it as it comes.”

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This is a list of casinos in Colorado.

Monarch Casino Black Hawk

List of casinos[edit]

Gallery[edit]

• Ameristar Black Hawk

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Media related to Casinos in Colorado at Wikimedia Commons