Colorado’s Sports Betting Deposit Limits and Credit Card Ban Take Effect

Colorado sports bettors will soon lose the ability to fund their accounts with a credit card, and their daily deposits will be capped at six, as new consumer protection rules take effect this week. The restrictions stem from Senate Bill 26-131, a bipartisan measure signed into law earlier this year amid rising concern over gambling addiction, particularly among young men.

Sportsbooks operating in the state have already begun notifying customers of the upcoming changes, with some apps rolling out the new deposit caps as early as this week. The rules apply on a rolling 24-hour basis, meaning a deposit only counts against the daily limit for a full day after it’s made before that slot opens back up.

What the New Law Actually Changes

SB 26-131 was sponsored by Sens. Matt Ball and Byron Pelton alongside Reps. Steven Woodrow and Dan Woog, and it cleared the legislature with strong bipartisan support — a 20-14 vote in the Senate and 50-13 in the House. Gov. Jared Polis signed it into law in June, and it officially takes effect this week.

The headline provisions are straightforward: internet sports betting operators can no longer accept credit card deposits, whether directly or through an account that’s ultimately funded by one, and bettors are limited to six separate deposits within a single gaming day. A violation of the credit card prohibition is a class 2 misdemeanor, and the state’s gaming commission can levy penalties of up to $25,000 against operators who don’t comply.

The law also bars sportsbooks from targeting anyone under 21 with advertising, and it prohibits push notifications or text messages that solicit bets or deposits — a shot at the kind of aggressive re-engagement marketing that has drawn scrutiny across the industry. Operators will additionally be required to report annual transactional data to the Colorado Division of Gaming starting in 2028, with a public report compiled every three years beginning in 2029.

Part of a Broader Industry Shift

Colorado isn’t acting in isolation here. Several major sportsbook apps had already voluntarily dropped credit card deposits over the past year, as lawmakers and advocacy groups nationally have pushed the idea that bettors shouldn’t be wagering with borrowed money. Making it a statewide legal requirement, rather than an individual operator policy, closes the door on any book choosing to keep the option open.

An earlier draft of the bill went further, proposing an outright ban on proposition bets — wagers on specific in-game outcomes like passing yards or which team scores first — but that provision was stripped out before final passage. Lawmakers ultimately settled on the deposit and payment restrictions as the core of the bill, betting that slowing down how quickly and how often someone can fund their account will do more to curb compulsive losses than restricting bet types.

For everyday bettors in Colorado, the practical impact is mostly about payment method and pacing. Debit cards, bank transfers, and other funding options remain unaffected, and six deposits in a rolling 24-hour window is a high ceiling for the vast majority of recreational players. The bigger shift is symbolic: it’s one more state formally codifying what had been an industry trend, and it adds Colorado to the growing list of jurisdictions tightening the guardrails around online sports betting as the market matures.