Colorado sweepstakes cafes are illegal. At the least, that’s the viewpoint from the state’s Attorney General’s office, which has granted a legal opinion saying that ‘cybercafés,’ better understood as sweepstakes cafes in several other states, constitute an application of illegal gambling.

According to the opinion, the cafes are no sweepstakes operations, but are gambling operations and would require become approved by voters through an amendment to the state’s constitution to be remembered as appropriate.

The AG official dictum goes on to say that the sweepstakes cafes have actually each of sun and rain that are necessary to classify an activity as gambling.

‘Because all three elements: consideration, possibility, and award are present, under Colorado legislation, the activity occurring at sweepstakes cafes in Colorado constitutes unlawful gambling,’ the opinion reported.

About 40 Cafes Operating in State

According to industry officials, there are about 40 such venues currently operating in Colorado. Former Pueblo County Sheriff Dan Corsentino, who now works as a consultant for Cyber GT Systems (which has seven of the companies), says they do not constitute gambling. He says that the games involve some known level of skill, and that the cafes simply give customers another method to play games and try to win prizes, something widely available outside the cafes because well.

That’s not an opinion that many states have shared so far. In the last few years, operators of sweepstakes cafes have fought and lost legal battles in states including Florida, California, and Mississippi. But Corsentino says he hopes that officials Colorado will see a better way to take care of the industry than those states.

‘We believe legislation is a lot better than express prohibition,’ stated Corsentino. ‘I’m hoping there is some middle ground.’

Compared to that end, he says the cafes might be willing to bend their company models to comply make sure they with state guidelines. They might add more items for sale so they better resemble retail stores, and make sure they steer clear from the three regions of the state that allow for casino gambling.

Legislators Say AG’s Verdict is Clear

But legislators say that this is unlikely to satisfy them.

‘It appears to me personally that the lawyer general ended up being pretty company that these operations are illegal,’ said State Representative Polly Lawrence (R-Roxborough Park).

Lawrence had been one of many sponsors of legislation previously this that was designed to kill the sweepstakes cafes year. In accordance with Lawrence, the cafes make most of their money from the poor and the senior, and so they lack the controls and legislation that their state’s gambling enterprises are subjected to.

The ruling from the Attorney General’s office doesn’t indicate the cybercafés are going away any time soon. According to workplace spokesperson Carolyn Tyler, regional law enforcement officials will need to determine what should happen to the firms in their jurisdictions. As of yet, there have been no immediate moves to raid or shut any cafes down.

Some towns and metropolitan areas have already considered the presssing issue, however. As an example, the Lakewood City Council passed a moratorium that is one-year licensing sweepstakes cafes earlier in 2014 so that you can see the way the state would regulate them in the meantime.

The sweepstakes cafes, which have popped up in several states and more often than not provoked challenges that are legal use many different ways to attempt to get around gambling laws. Typically, users must purchase an item such as for instance phone cards or Internet time in trade for sweepstakes entries, that may result in cash prizes. However, officials say that customers are only at these venues for the gambling aspect, and few if any actually plan to use anything they purchase in the stores.