Colorado Just Made It Easier to Bet Props — Here’s What Changed in the State’s Gaming Reform Bill

Colorado bettors got some good news this week. Lawmakers voted on April 22 to remove a proposed ban on proposition bets from Senate Bill 131, the state’s broader sports betting reform measure. The ban would have prohibited licensed sportsbooks from offering or accepting prop bets — wagers on individual player performance or specific in-game moments — and its removal means Colorado sports betting looks almost exactly the same as it did before the bill was introduced.

What Would Have Changed

The original SB 131 language classified offering or accepting a prop bet as a Class 2 misdemeanor for licensed operators. That is a significant criminal penalty, and it would have forced platforms like DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and others to remove an entire category of wagering from their Colorado products. Player props — bets on things like whether a quarterback will throw over or under 2.5 touchdowns, or whether a certain NBA player will score more than 22.5 points — would have been gone. Same-game parlays built on those props would have been gone with them.

Colorado’s Division of Gaming estimated that banning prop bets would cost the state approximately $2.4 to $2.6 million in annual sports betting tax revenue, primarily affecting allocations designated for water projects under the Colorado Water Plan. That fiscal hit, combined with lobbying pressure from the industry and concerns from some lawmakers that the ban would push bettors toward offshore platforms, contributed to the amendment’s approval.

What SB 131 Still Does

With the prop bet ban removed, Colorado’s SB 131 retains a narrower set of provisions focused on reducing problem gambling behaviors. The bill passed the full Senate on April 28 and moved to the House.

What remains in the bill includes a ban on accepting credit card deposits for sports betting — a change that DraftKings had already made voluntarily in August 2025 and FanDuel followed in March 2026, so this codifies what most major operators are already doing. The bill also prohibits sportsbooks from sending push notifications or text messages soliciting bets or deposits, limits advertising to hours outside of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and restricts ads during live broadcasts of athletic competitions, and caps individual deposits at five per person in a 24-hour period.

The credit card ban and deposit limits are consumer protection measures with real-world impact. If you currently fund your Colorado betting account with a credit card, you will need to switch to a debit card, bank transfer, or e-wallet once the bill becomes law. The deposit frequency limit is unlikely to affect most recreational bettors but may be relevant for players who run multiple funding events in a single session.

What Bettors Should Do Now

For Colorado bettors, the practical answer is: nothing changes for now on prop bets. They remain available on every major platform, and the legislative threat to them has been neutralized for this session. Same-game parlays, player performance props, and live betting markets are all intact.

If you use a credit card to fund your sportsbook accounts in Colorado, start planning your transition now. The bill still needs to pass the House and be signed into law, which could take several more weeks, but the direction of travel is clear. Debit cards are accepted by all major platforms, and bank transfers and PayPal are available at most of them. Getting comfortable with an alternative payment method before the law changes is easier than scrambling after the fact.

The prop bet question is also not fully resolved politically. Bill sponsor Sen. Matt Ball acknowledged in committee that removing the ban was a decision made under industry pressure with limited debate, and he left open the possibility of returning to the issue in a future session. The Colorado public health research citing links between rapid-fire prop formats and compulsive gambling behaviors has not disappeared. Bettors who rely heavily on prop markets in same-game parlays should stay aware of the ongoing legislative conversation, even if the immediate threat has passed.