Colorado’s casinos showed a slight drop in adjusted gross proceeds of $93.6 million in September over August’s $96.6 million. Both months were down from July’s $101.5 million.
The state collected $13.4 million in September, giving it a total of $31.7 million through the first three months of Fiscal Year 2024.
Half of all tax revenue from gambling in Colorado is earmarked toward state programs through the Limit Gaming Fund, while the other 50% is broken down into three parts, with 12% funneled back to gaming counties, 10% to gaming cities and 28% to the State Historical Fund.
Towns saw dip in proceeds in September
Colorado’s casinos are in the three mountain towns of Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek. Black Hawk is the largest of the three and has the biggest market share, with 16 casinos in its footprint.
All three towns saw a dip in adjusted gross proceeds compared to August, with Black Hawk dropping from $73.0 million to $71.6 million, Cripple Creek from $16.2 million to $14.9 million and Central City from $7.5 to $7.1 million.
Slot machines still the most popular games to play
Slot machines continue to be the biggest revenue producer in Colorado, with a total of 10,680 gaming machines operating in September.
The report breaks down each casino’s slot machines by amount of coins in, AGP, average daily AGP and the hold percentage. Hold percentage is the amount of money the casino collects.
It’s interesting to see which games are the most lucrative for players to play, meaning the house takes the lowest percentage.
The lowest hold rate for individual slot machines in Colorado were:
- Black Hawk’s 50-cent slots: 5.04% hold rate
- Central City’s $1 slot: 5.19%
- Black Hawk’s 5-cent slots: 5.62%
- Central City’s 5-cent slot: 5.69%
The hold percentage on all slot machines by towns:
- Cripple Creek (2,803 slot machines): 7.52%
- Central City (1,701): 7.76%
- Black Hawk (5,950): 7.8%
As a comparison, here is the hold percentage on penny slots by town:
- Cripple Creek (1,382 penny slot machines): 8.36%
- Central City (930): 9.64%
- Black Hawk (3,152): 10.27%
The hold percentage on blackjack by towns:
- Central City (14 tables): 10.6%
- Cripple Creek (17): 21.46%
- Black Hawk (75): 22.07%
