My girlfriend and I decided to visit the casinos in Black Hawk and Central City, Colorado — old mining towns that legislation turned into gambling destinations in 1991.  After our summer trip to Las Vegas, we were anxious to try our luck at craps and Monopoly slots again.

Black Hawk casinos can’t compare in scale to the towering, monolithic resorts of the Vegas strip, but they have the same games, and they’re just a short drive from Denver.  And the best part: due to Colorado’s “Clean Indoor Air Act” (of about 2006), smoking is prohibited indoors, including at casinos!

Instead of suffocating under a cloud of cigarette smoke while we played, taking years off our lives and making part of the experience unpleasant, we got to stay for hours breathing clean air and loving every minute.

Thank you, Colorado, for having faith that gambling can exist independent of smoking.  We may still visit Las Vegas again, but we’ll be spending far more time in Colorado’s mountains.