Sports Betting 'Cash At Counter' Location Opens In Downtown Denver

DENVER (CBS4) - As sports betting in Colorado grows past a billion-dollar industry, a physical location has popped up helping betters much closer than the mountain gaming casinos.

"We are the nearest thing to a sports book. It's called cash at counter. And it gives you the opportunity if you're a FanDuel customer to come in and deposit cash, any amount, it goes straight on your account and also withdraw," said Noel Hickey the owner of Celtic on Market.

For decades, Celtic (now in its second location in downtown Denver) has hosted off track betting through a partnership with Arapahoe Park in Aurora. When the opportunity to partner with FanDuel was presented, Hickey jumped at the chance.

"It's grown weekly, every week, and in fact FanDuel put in different offers at different times," Hickey said. "It brings a lot of new customers in here."

The idea is to allow people to put cash into their accounts and then place bets on their phone. The withdraw process is cut down from potentially days to just a few minutes.

"People getting paid in cash, it means a lot more to them than getting a PayPal or a transfer to their bank account," Hickey said.

He says he's like an ATM just bringing in deposits and paying out withdraws, but Hickey is hoping it means more business for his bar and restaurant. He's envisioning an even more popular cash counter when capacity limits are eased and fans return to the nearby Ball Arena for sports.

"That's where people get very excited, the fact that we can count out 100 dollar bills to them and they can put it in their pocket and they feel like they've won," Hickey said.