You can place plenty of different wagers in the Colorado sports betting market, but you can no longer gamble on what regulators deem “negative wagers.”
The Colorado Department of Revenue Gaming Division rejected 147 types of wagers earlier this month. Ninety-five of those were due to having a “negative connotation.”
They removed the bets to “ensure honesty and integrity in the Colorado gaming industry,” a spokesperson told SBC Americas.
What are negative wagers?
Specifically, the gaming division that oversees Colorado sports betting defines a negative bet as “a wager that can be interpreted as having a negative connotation or negative result in gameplay.”
Examples include bets around football teams or players having the most fumbles, golfers missing the cut, length of injury time in soccer, and errors by baseball teams or players.
Regulators may have been swayed to act after the NBA banned Jontay Porter, the brother of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. Jontay pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July. The former Toronto Raptors player was tipping off bettors about his participation in specific games. Porter’s lawyer said the player was “in over his head due to a gambling addiction.”
Interestingly, regulators eliminated two basketball wagers. Bets regarding the over/under for technical fouls for a player or if a player would be ejected are no longer available for Colorado bettors.
What sports are impacted?
In total, 16 different sports/leagues saw wagers removed:
- Australian Football League
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cornhole
- Cricket
- Darts
- American professional football
- Golf
- Ice hockey
- MMA
- Motorsports
- Olympics
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Soccer
- NCAA football
The Olympics had the most negative wagers removed. The gaming division axed 28 Olympic wagers, which equated to 19% of the total Olympic bets available. They took down around 13% (19 bets) of pro football wagers.
The Colorado gaming division didn’t rule out the possibility that some of the bets could return. Sportsbooks must re-word them, taking out any negative connotations.
Not the first time Colorado has removed wagers
In February, the state removed 61 soccer wagers due to “integrity concerns.”
Wagers included the following:
- First player to be shown a card
- Half with most yellow cards
- Player to receive a red card
- Total cards odd or even
In January, regulators removed two MMA markets over integrity concerns. Additionally, they removed wagers in 2021 regarding NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem.
Colorado removed two football wagers soon after sports betting launched in the state.
- Yes/No NFL head coach to be fired during the 2020 regular season
- First NFL head coach fired during the 2020 regular season
