1. Connecticut Online Poker Law
2. Connecticut Online Poker Legislation
3. Online Poker In Connecticut
4. Connecticut Online Poker

Connecticut Poker Tournaments Near Me. If you are looking for poker tournaments in CT, both the Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun Casinos feature routine competitions with cash prizes going to the eventual winners. If you are looking for the top poker tournaments Connecticut has available online, that can be a little tricky.

If you are only going to have two casino poker rooms in an entire State, then you’d be very happy that these were the mega resort casinos of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods in Connecticut. These are high points in a State which is otherwise not gambling friendly. Fortunately there are cash games up to high levels and some of the biggest tournament events around at these casinos.

Connecticut Online Poker FAQs. What Games Can I Play At Connecticut Online Poker Rooms? You’ll be able to find high, medium, and low stakes US online poker games of all shapes and sizes. There are Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 32 Card Draw, Americana, Texas Hold’em, and stud poker in 3, 5, and 7 card varieties. There are free poker tournaments in restaurants and bars in CT. These currently exist in a legal grey area, though a bill was put forward to give these free-to-enter games a carve-out from the Statutes. Holdem is currently prohibited under the charity gambling laws in Connecticut. Online Poker Games In Connecticut.

Recommended Connecticut Poker Site

• Best Connecticut Online Poker Sites. Online poker is not yet legal in Connecticut. However, that may not be the case forever, sign up for our email list to be the first to know when online poker becomes legal in your area.
• Update: March 7, 2020: There’s still no online poker in Connecticut. Moreover, things don’t look too promising. The CT Mirror reported on March 3, 2020 that Gov. Ned Lamon and the tribal casinos are deadlocked over sports betting. This doesn’t bode well for any expansion of gaming in the state, including online poker.

This page gives you a detailed overview of how and where to find poker games in the State of Connecticut. First of all, live casino poker games are covered – focusing on those two huge tribal casino resorts. After that I have looked at social poker games. Next you’ll find information on playing online poker from this State – followed by some key excerpts from the Statutes which are relevant to poker fans.

Live Poker Games In Connecticut

By the standards of any casino outside of Las Vegas or Atlantic City, Foxwoods and Mohegan sun are giants. They provide hotel, restaurant, conference and entertainment complexes in addition to the gambling games. Millions of people are drawn to these venues every year, coming from not only Connecticut, but neighboring States including Massachusetts and New York too.

You can enjoy some of the biggest tournament events around including the World Poker Tour and World Series Circuit events at these venues. These are in addition to all the regular tournaments (including their own events) and of course a ton of cash game action.

These casinos are both on the land of native tribes, there are no State licensed casinos at all in Connecticut.

Social Poker – Are Home Games Legal Here?

You can play social poker home games in Connecticut legally – though there is an additional rule on top of the usual ‘nobody can profit from running the game’ concept. This is that there has to be a real social relationship between the people involved in the game. This seems a nebulous concept to try and prove in a court room – though these types of games are not the focus of any enforcement activity in this State anyway.

Connecticut Online Poker Law

There are free poker tournaments in restaurants and bars in CT. These currently exist in a legal grey area, though a bill was put forward to give these free-to-enter games a carve-out from the Statutes. Holdem is currently prohibited under the charity gambling laws in Connecticut.

Online Poker Games In Connecticut

Even with the casino resorts making this State a famous east-coast gambling destination, the government here is far from open to progress when it comes to the general gambling climate. Internet gambling and poker games are assumed to be covered by the general Statutes. There is little to indicate that Connecticut will regulate internet poker any time soon. At the moment Mohegan Sun run a free poker site.

Offshore sites, who operate from locations like Netherlands Antilles and Antigua, welcome players from CT. These internet poker rooms are completely legal in their own countries, and offer players from most US states a wide range of cash games and poker tournaments. Remember that from a legal perspective you are playing at your own risk, though no Connecticut player has ever been busted for merely enjoying real money online poker.

What Do The Connecticut Gambling Statutes Say?

The Connecticut Statutes focus on risk and gain, and do explicitly list poker in their books under the gambling definitions. As in many States, what the laws do here say that every possible form of gambling is illegal – and then make exceptions in clauses for such things as social poker home games, charity gambling and so on. The tribal lands are governed by their own laws, though there are deals (known as ‘compacts’) in place between the tribes and the State.

Here is the key definition of what constitutes illegal gambling activity under the CT Statutes. This is from Section 35, 278A of the code:

…risking any money, credit, deposit or other thing of value for gain contingent in whole or in part upon lot, chance or the operation of a gambling device, including the playing of a casino gambling game such as blackjack, poker, craps, roulette or a slot machine…

It might be possible to argue that poker in this context refers to casino poker games (the ones where the house has a built-in edge). My opinion is that the conservative nature of this State would see this kind of case quickly thrown out.

Connecticut Poker – Summing It Up

Famous for the biggest and best casino resorts on the East Coast, Connecticut is in reality very strict in its anti-gambling laws. If it were not for the tribal lands which host Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, there would be virtually no gambling here at all. Those casinos have prompted nearly States including Massachusetts and Rhode Island to legalize their own casinos. The leak of potential tax revenues into Connecticut proved to be the tipping point. There will soon also be some competition from upstate New York, where some new State casinos have been approved.

There is little likelihood of Connecticut regulating online poker games any time soon. If and when many surrounding States are benefiting from the revenue generated from these games, we might find the government here taking a look into the area.

Important CT Notes

• Players from CT can legally play at offshore poker websites
• Need for state revenue may help push online poker
• Live poker is popular in Connecticut
• Legal gambling includes lotteries, horse racing, tribal casinos
• State compact necessary with population at 3.6 million

“Reviewed by Chuck Humphrey – 50 year Gaming Law Practitioner”

The Department of Consumer Protection[A] of Connecticut clarifies that the state does not authorize, license, permit or regulate in any manner any online gambling in any form, including online poker. Playing poker from within Connecticut at a website regulated outside of the United States is legal. Online gambling has not been legalized by the state to operate such business as of now.

Future Outlook of Online Poker in Connecticut – Estimated date of legalization: 2020-2021

The following graph tracks our expected legislation of online poker in Connecticut on a state law level. It is currently already legal on a Federal level. This graph monitors the current rise or fall of expected legalization.

Recent Activity
There are no bills pending in the Connecticut legislature that seek to legalize and regulate online gambling in any form. However, a November 2012 report in The Hartford Courant[B] indicated that some legislators should re-examine the matter. State Representative Stephen Dargan, co-chairman of the legislative public safety committee that oversees legalized gambling, pointed out that revenue from licensed casinos had been dwindling since 2007 and Connecticut needs to look at online gambling but no action materialized. It seems likely that legal online poker will come to Connecticut through a federal law or compact with other states. Any online gambling within the state would have to address the concerns of the Indian tribes that are already operating land casinos.

Illegal and unregulated online gambling is available in Connecticut as it is in other states of America. This was pointed out by Charles Bunnell, the Mohegans chief of staff for external and governmental affairs, to the General Assembly’s Public Safety and Security Committee according to a report in CBS New York[C].

Current Gambling Laws in Connecticut

Gambling is covered in the Connecticut General Statutes in Title 53 (Crimes) Chapter 946 Offenses Against Public Policy[D]. Section 53-278a[E] contains the definitions. Clause (2) of this section states:

“Gambling means risking any money, credit, deposit or other thing of value for gain contingent in whole or in part upon lot, chance or the operation of a gambling device, including the playing of a casino gambling game such as blackjack, poker, craps, roulette or a slot machine, but does not include: Legal contests of skill, speed, strength or endurance in which awards are made only to entrants or the owners of entries; legal business transactions which are valid under the law of contracts; activity legal under the provisions of sections 7-169 to 7-186, inclusive; any lottery or contest conducted by or under the authority of any state of the United States, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any possession or territory of the United States; and other acts or transactions expressly authorized by law on or after October 1, 1973.” Clause (3) defines “professional gambling” as accepting or offering to accept gambling wagers.

Section 53-278b defines the criminality of gambling offenses. Clause (a) states that any person who engages in gambling, or solicits or induces another to engage in gambling, or is present when another person or persons are engaged in gambling, shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor. Clause (b) states that any person who engages in professional gambling shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor. The punishments are specified elsewhere in the statutes.

Other sections of the Connecticut General Statutes deal with other specific forms of gambling.

History of Gambling in Connecticut

Connecticut Online Poker Legislation

Online Poker In Connecticut

Land Based Poker in Connecticut

Connecticut General Statutes allow home poker as social gambling by providing an exclusion in Section 53-278b that states “… provided natural persons shall be exempt from prosecution and punishment under this subsection for any game, wager or transaction which is incidental to a bona fide social relationship, is participated in by natural persons only and in which no person is participating, directly or indirectly, in professional gambling.” Two issues are important here. No player or organizer of such poker games must profit in any way for hosting the game. The players must have something in common outside of the home poker game. However, “a bona fide social relationship” has not been defined in the statutes, not been clarified by any enforcement agency and not been tested in Connecticut courts.

Connecticut General Statutes permit limited forms of gambling for charity, but those do not include poker tournaments.

Live poker is allowed only at the two Indian casinos, apart from home games defined above. The Division of Special Revenue has expressly clarified through a press release[F] in 2004 that it is illegal for private clubs, bars and such organizations to host poker games under Connecticut laws, especially because poker playing under these circumstances violates state-tribal agreements that give the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans exclusive rights to conduct casino gambling, including poker, in return for a percentage of their slot revenue.

Gambling Laws in Connecticut

No forms of online gambling are presently allowed in Connecticut. Traditional forms of gambling such as off track betting, reservation casinos, state lottery and charity bingo are permitted. Presently the regulation of gambling in Connecticut has been consolidated under the Department of Consumer Protection, Gaming Division.

Connecticut allows casino style gambling only on Indian reservations. The two reservation casinos in Connecticut, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, are among the largest casinos in the world. Foxwoods, located in Mashantucket, opened in 1986 as a bingo hall, which is now the world’s largest. In 1992, table games were added. In 1993, slots and video poker were added. Foxwoods offers a 100 table poker room, thousands of slots, as well as 350 tables for casino games like Baccarat, Blackjack, Caribbean Stud, Craps, Paigow Poker, Roulette, Sic Bo and others.

There is also a large race book offered. Mohegan Sun is located in Uncasville. It is not as large as Foxwoods and offers only 40 poker tables. The table games have the same range as Foxwoods. Both casinos pay the State of Connecticut 25% of the casino’s slot win. The detailed terms and conditions of the tribal compacts with the state are available on the Department of Consumer Protection Gaming Division website.

Pari-mutuel wagering is permitted in the state by the Connecticut General Statutes in Title 12 (Taxation) Chapter 226 Gaming Policy, Regulation and Revenue. The detailed regulations formulated by the Division of Special Revenue are available here[G].

Though wagering is allowed on horse and greyhound racing and jai alai games, these activities are not conducted within Connecticut. Horse racing was never started and greyhound racing and jai alai have been discontinued. However, Connecticut residents can wager through the more than a dozen off track betting parlors within the state. Some of these parlors are dedicated solely to betting, while others offer to their patrons services like sports bars and restaurants. Wagering on telephone is also accepted at these off track betting centers.

Connecticut Online Poker

Lottery is covered by the Connecticut General Statutes in Title 12 (Taxation) Chapter 229a Connecticut Lottery Corporation. From 1996 the state lottery is operated by the Connecticut Lottery Corporation[H] under the oversight of the Division of Special Revenue. The lottery offers lotto drawings and scratch off tickets. It also participates in multi-state lotto drawings including Powerball and Mega Millions.

Charitable gambling is covered by the Connecticut General Statutes in Title 7 (Municipalities) Chapter 98 Municipal Powers. The forms of charitable gambling allowed are bingo, sealed tickets, bazaars and raffles. Commercial bingo is only allowed on the Indian reservations. Section 7-170 defines bazaar as disposal of merchandise awards by means of chance. Bingo is the dominant form of charitable gambling in Connecticut.

The detailed regulations for operation of bingo charities have been formulated by the Division of Special Revenue. Similar regulations have been prescribed for other charitable gambling products. The Charitable Games unit of the Department of Consumer Protection regulates and monitors this activity. The Commissioner of Consumer Protection is the permit issuing authority for the bingo and sealed ticket activities, and the chiefs of police and first selectmen of small towns are the permit issuing authorities for bazaar and raffle activities.

Author:Joseph Falchetti (twitter)
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References and Citations