Some Election Bets Pay Off Big in Old Colorado Mining Towns

Gamblers whose game of choice is real estate won big in this old mining town by betting correctly that state voters would approve a referendum to allow limited gambling here.

Colorado voters on Nov. 6 allowed limited-stakes gambling for this town below Pikes Peak as well as in Central City and Black Creek.

Before Election Day more than 50 properties changed hands in Cripple Creek. The prices paid were up to 10 times their previous price, the Teller County assessor’s office said.

At least 27 lots in the town’s historic district--its future gambling district--sold for nearly $1.9 million, the Rocky Mountain News reported Sunday.

The winner so far in that gamble seems to be Norbert Larsen, a Cripple Creek construction worker.

Larsen bought 10 lots in the historic district for $40,000 in July. He sold them Oct. 26 to the Seravalli family of Daytona Beach, Fla., for $200,000, records show.

If “you don’t gamble, you don’t win,” Larsen said. “It’s all gambling. Some people are going to make their money gambling on land, some on running a business, some playing poker . . . . I won.”

The Seravallis snapped up at least 20 of the 27 lots in the historic district. John Seravalli Sr. and his twin sons, John Jr. and Joseph, put up $1.2 million for the prime properties, the paper said.

Central City and Black Hawk are two former mining towns about 25 miles west of Denver.

The referendum makes it legal in the three towns to make wagers up to $5 on such games as blackjack and poker.

Some property owners are still holding out for an irresistible offer.

Vern (Terp) Terpening, who has owned Terp’s Leather Goods in Central City for more than 40 years, wants $4.5 million for his 12,000 square feet on Main Street, plus two houses and property in town. The property was assessed at $1.7 million two years ago.