Colorado Bettors Can Wager On These Top 10 Unique Sports In The State

Colorado residents enjoy betting on the Big Four sports: football, basketball, baseball, and ice hockey. The state is home to the reigning NBA Champs, the Denver Nuggets, the 2022 Stanley Cup winners, the ColoradoAvalanche, and we love our ColoradoRockies and Denver Broncos despite their recent struggles.

But there are more than those four sports to bet on in The Centennial State.

These are 10 unique sports to bet on in Colorado. There are some you may not have heard of, while some of them you probably didn’t know you could wager on. Keep in mind, these sports are legal to bet on, but they may not be available at all Colorado online sportsbooks.

We’ve listed the sport, the leagues, the bets available, and why people love to bet on them in Colorado.

Biathlon

Date official: May 1, 2020

Approved leagues: International Biathlon Union & World Championship events

Bets available:

• Outright winner
• Head-to-head

Why Coloradans love it: Biathlon combines two things people in Colorado like: cross-country skiing and riflery. Racers on skis are timed on how fast they complete the course; also, how many targets they hit in the firing range.

Chess

Date official: Aug. 24, 2022

Approved leagues: International Chess Federation & PlayMagnus AS

Bets available:

• First move
• Moneyline
• Last piece to be captured
• Going to Armageddon
• Many more

Why Coloradans love it: Chess is a complicated game with deep strategy and rules on what pieces can move and where. Champions become grand masters and are revered for their intellect. Coloradans love champions and smart people.

Cornhole

Date official: Feb. 7, 2023

Approved leagues: American Cornhole League

Bets available:

• Point spreads
• Bracket winners
• Moneyline match winners
• Man/Woman of the Year awards
• Rounds per match over/under
• Top division
• Top singles players
• Prop bets
• Much more

Why Coloradans love it: It’s become a huge pre-game pastime at tailgate parties. Take a few bean bags and try to throw them inside a propped-up hole on a board and score points. It can be played as singles or doubles. Drop your bag on the board and its one point, through the hole is three. It’s challenging enough to have professional players but simple enough for novices to be good right away.

Ultimate disc

Date official: Aug. 6, 2021

Approved leagues: American Ultimate Disc League

Bets available:

• Spread
• Moneyline
• Total
• Outright tournament/championship winner

Why Coloradans love it: Colorado has been all in on the ultimate disc (nee’ frisbee) craze for a long time. The state just christened a new team in the AUDL, the Colorado Summit. The game is like a souped-up version of flag football, with the disc as the “ball” and teams try to score points by passing the disc to a teammate in the opposing end zone. Games are self-officiated and played in any type of weather.

Pesäpallo

Date official: May 1, 2020

Approved leagues: Superpesis and Ykkospesis

Bets available: Match results

Why Coloradans love it: This is Finnish baseball where the object is for the offense to score runs by hitting the ball and running through the bases, except the ball is pitched vertically. Games have two periods of four innings each. It looks just enough like baseball to be familiar, but different enough to be exciting.

Pickleball

Date 0fficial: April 23, 2023

Approved leagues: PPA Tour (USA Pickleball)

Bets available:

• Match winner
• Correct score
• Total games odd or even
• Match game handicaps
• Much more

Why Coloradans love it: Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, period. Colorado has taken note, adding multiple Pickleball courts to the Denver area. It’s a variation on tennis, basically like a volley as the ball is softer and the paddles make a “pwlop” noise. It has become a craze among older Americans because it doesn’t require as much movement as tennis but does need good hand-eye coordination.

Professional tag

Date official: Jan. 26, 2023

Approved leagues: World Chase Tag

Bets available:

• Moneyline
• Over/unders
• Futures
• Point spreads
• Number of chases
• Season champion
• Much more

Why Coloradans love it: Every Coloradan reading this story has played at least one game of tag in their life. The WCT sets up “arenas” with obstacles, but the goal is the same: Track down your opponent, touch them and they’re out.

Pro mini golf

Date official: Oct. 31, 2022

Approved leagues: US Pro Minigolf Association

Bets available:

• Over/under birdies, pars, bogeys
• Over/under holes-in-one per player
• Outright winner
• Over/under shots per hole
• Over/under score for each player
• Top 10 finishers
• Top 5 finishers

Why Coloradans love it: Don’t call it putt-putt. Just don’t. This is professional mini golf. There are elaborate courses with multiple obstacles to navigate played by the same rules as golf, meaning the lowest score wins.

Rodeo

Date official: Nov. 6, 2022

Approved leagues: National Finals, PBR, PRCS

Bets available:

• Head-to-head bulls
• Head-to-head riders
• Individual score over/under bull
• Individual score over/under rider
• Event winner
• Round winner, bull
• Round winner, rider

Why Coloradans love it: Who doesn’t love seeing the bulls whip around and admire the courage of the riders as they step into the ring? Colorado Rodeo betting has it all: entertainment, with a little bit of danger thrown in, and comedy from the rodeo clowns. It’s perfect for the state.

Table tennis

Date official: Sept. 9, 2022

Approved leagues: Over 400, including International Bulgaria Open, International China Open, International Korea Open and TT Star Pro Series

Bets available:

• Lead after X number of points
• Moneyline
• Race to X points
• Set winner
• Totals
• Correct score
• winning margin
• Much more

Why Coloradans love it: Each month when the Colorado Division of Gaming puts out its revenue reports, table tennis is one of the top 10 most bet on sports in Colorado. The reasons are clear. The sport is fast-paced and exciting and there are multiple events going on all over the world at the same time. This is a sport where there’s always something cool to bet on. It’s also clear Colorado sports bettors can’t quit table tennis.