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

In line with the opinion, the cafes are no sweepstakes operations, but are gambling operations and would need to be approved by voters through an amendment to the state’s constitution in order to become legal.

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

‘Because all three elements: consideration, possibility, and prize are present, under Colorado law, the activity occurring at sweepstakes cafes in Colorado constitutes illegal gambling,’ the opinion claimed.

Roughly 40 Cafes Operating in State

Based on industry officials, there are about 40 such venues presently 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 cannot represent gambling. He says that the games have some level of ability, and that the cafes simply give customers another technique to play games and try to win prizes, something widely available outside the cafes as well.

That’s maybe not an opinion that lots of states have shared to date. Within the last few years, operators of sweepstakes cafes have actually battled and lost legal battles in states including Florida, California, and Mississippi. But Corsentino claims he hopes that officials Colorado will discover a better way to deal with the industry compared to those states.

‘We believe legislation is better than express prohibition,’ said Corsentino. ‘we’m hoping there is some middle ground.’

To that particular end, he says the cafes might be willing to bend their business models to comply make sure they with state rules. They are able to add more goods for sale so they stay away from the three areas of the state that allow for casino gambling that they better resemble retail stores, and make sure.

Legislators Say AG’s Verdict is obvious

But legislators say that this is unlikely to satisfy them.

‘It appears to me that the attorney general was firm that is pretty these operations are illegal,’ said State Representative Polly Lawrence (R-Roxborough Park).

Lawrence had been one of the sponsors of legislation early in the day this that was designed to kill the sweepstakes cafes year. According to 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 in the future. According to office spokesperson Carolyn Tyler, regional law enforcement officials will need to decide what should happen to the businesses in their jurisdictions. As of yet, there were no immediate moves to raid or shut down any cafes.

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

The sweepstakes cafes, which have popped up in several states and almost always provoked legal challenges, use a variety of ways to attempt to get around gambling rules. Typically, users must buy an item such as calling cards or Internet time in change for sweepstakes entries, which can lead to cash prizes. However, officials say that customers are only at these venues for the gambling aspect, and few if any actually intend to use anything they purchase in the stores.