- At 9,593 feet above sea level the sportsbook at the Wildwood Casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado is the highest in the United States.
- There are at least a dozen other sportsbooks in the US that are at least ‘a mile high’.
- As the retail sports betting industry grows in Colorado there will be even more as all three of their gaming towns are at 8,500 feet above sea level or higher.
I recently wrote an article about the new sportsbook opening at Colorado’s Wildwood Casino. The Cripple Creek, Colorado property bills itself as ‘the highest casino in the world’ and at 9,593 feet above sea level that’s hard to argue with. In that article I observed that by association the new sportsbook at the Wildwood Casino would be the highest sportsbook in the world. That got me thinking about what sort of competition they might have for that distinction.
Since American citizens won’t be able to travel internationally for quite some time I decided to focus initially on the United States. I compiled every sportsbook I could find that was at least a mile high. That translates to 5,280 feet above sea level. It was surprising that there turned out to be so many. For now, however, none can come within 1,000 feet of the Wildwood Casino Sportsbook.
GAMING TOWNS AT ALTITUDE
There are several US gaming destinations that are well above a mile high meaning that any sportsbook in that area will be as well. Not surprisingly, three are in Colorado:
CENTRAL CITY, COLORADO: 8,510 FEET
BLACK HAWK, COLORADO: 8,537 FEET
CRIPPLE CREEK, COLORADO: 9,494 FEET
Colorado’s casinos are all located in one of three historical mountain mining towns. The vibe is very much like Park City, Utah only with legal gambling. Central City and Black Hawk are just a mile apart and are located 34 miles west of Denver. Cripple Creek is further west–48 miles west of Colorado Springs to be more specific.
Colorado launched legal sports betting on May 1, 2020 right in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, all of the state’s casinos were shut down meaning that the retail sports betting business in Colorado got off to a slow start. Currently, there are four retail sportsbooks in operation that are all well over a mile high. Three are in Black Hawk, one is in Cripple Creek. As soon as the retail betting industry gets into full swing in Colorado the size of our ‘mile high sportsbook’ list will more than double.
STATELINE, NEVADA: 6,283 FEET
INCLINE VILLAGE, NEVADA 6,350 FEET
CRYSTAL BAY, NEVADA: 6,400 FEET
The three casino towns in the Lake Tahoe area are also well over a mile high. The area’s casino gaming is primarily centered in Stateline but there are properties in all three of the above listed towns that offer full service sports betting.
SPORTS BETTING AT A MILE HIGH
CLOSE BUT NOT QUITE…
WILLIAM HILL SPORTSBOOK
CACTUS PETES RESORT CASINO
JACKPOT, NEVADA
5,213 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
Just south of the Idaho/Nevada border you’ll find group of the casinos in the unincorporated community of Jackpot, Nevada (Population 1,195). Cactus Petes in the largest of the area’s casinos and offers a full service William Hill operated sportsbook. With Jackpot at 5,213 feet above sea level this property just misses making the list.
NOT A SPORTSBOOK BUT A KIOSK….
WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BETTING KIOSK
PROSPECTOR HOTEL & GAMBLING HALL
ELY, NEVADA
6,437 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
Ely, Nevada was founded as a stagecoach station and like many Nevada towns found new life due to mining. Today it’s a quiet community of 4,255 people in remote White Pine County. There are four small casinos in town with the Prospector Hotel & Gambling Hall offering a William Hill sports betting kiosk.
THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
WILDWOOD CASINO SPORTSBOOK
CRIPPLE CREEK, COLORADO
9,593 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
We reported in detail about the sportsbook at Wildwood Casino in a previous article. Cripple Creek has the highest altitude of Colorado’s three mountain gaming towns and Wildwood Casino has gone to great effort to validate their claim of being the ‘highest casino in the world’. Since they had to get a variance to build where they did it’s unlikely that any new properties in town will come along to challenge their claim.
OTHER MILE HIGH SPORTSBOOKS
COLORADO
MONARCH CASINO SPA RESORT
BLACK HAWK, COLORADO
8,537 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
BETFRED SPORTSBOOK AT SARATOGA CASINO
BLACK HAWK, COLORADO
8,537 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
DRAFTKINGS SPORTSBOOK AT MARDI GRAS CASINO
BLACK HAWK, COLORADO
8,537 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
Two well known brand names in the sports betting industry join Monarch Casino’s eponymously named sportsbook in Black Hawk, Colorado. DraftKings opened just a couple of weeks ago while the Betfred Sportsbook at Saratoga Casino has the distinction of taking the first ‘over the counter’ bet in Colorado. Monarch had the distinction of being the first Colorado ‘out’ to be added to the Don Best odds feed.
SKY UTE CASINO RESORT SPORTSBOOK
IGNACIO, COLORADO
6,453 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
There are two gaming properties in Western Colorado near the border with New Mexico run by Native American tribes. The Sky Ute Casino sportsbook is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but are planning to launch a retail sportsbook soon. They’ve already got a mobile app and are listed on the Don Best odds feed.
NEVADA
WILLIAM HILL SPORTSBOOKS
MULTIPLE LOCATIONS
WEBSITE
HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE RACE & SPORTSBOOK
STATELINE, NEVADA
6,283 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
Most of the sportsbooks in the Lake Tahoe area are run by William Hill. That includes the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Stateline), the Montbleu Casino Resort (Stateline), the Grand Lodge Casino (Incline Village), the Crystal Bay Casino (Crystal Bay) and the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge & Casino (Crystal Bay). There’s also Harveys Lake Tahoe with a sportsbook run by Caesars Entertainment–for now at least as that might change with the completion of the sale to Eldorado Resorts.
NEW MEXICO
ROUTE 66 CASINO SPORTSBOOK
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
5,312 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
ISLETA RESORT CASINO SPORTSBOOK
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
5,312 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
Many people fail to realize that Albuquerque, New Mexico is actually at a higher altitude than Denver aka ‘the mile high city’. The entire state is mountainous and with a surprisingly large presence of tribal casinos there are already several high altitude sportsbooks and you can expect more to come.
WILLIAM HILL SPORTSBOOK
INN OF THE MOUNTAIN GODS RESORT & CASINO
MESCALERO, NEW MEXICO
6,611 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
In addition to having one of the coolest names of any casino in the country the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino is located in a downright majestic mountain setting in southern New Mexico approximately 120 miles north of the border with Texas. They’ve got a William Hill powered sportsbook that has just reopened following a closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
THUNDER RACE & SPORTSBOOK
BUFFALO THUNDER CASINO
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO
7,199 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL
WEBSITE
The highest altitude sportsbook outside of Colorado can be found just north of Santa Fe, New Mexico at the Buffalo Thunder Casino. The hotel at the property is managed by Hilton and the casino is one of the largest and most full featured in the area with 1200 slot machines, plenty of table games and a poker room in addition to the sports book. The property is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but will hopefully reopen soon.
