Connecticut Becomes Seventh US State to Legalize Online Poker
Last week, Connecticut legalized online gaming, along with online casino games and poker. After Governor Ned Lamont (D) signed House Bill 6451, “The Constitution State” became the seventh state to legalize online casino games and seventh to regulate online poker.
The legislation, which amends the Class III gaming compacts, also legalized both online and in-person sports betting and keno, online lottery draw games, and various fantasy contests. The state’s two tribes, Mohegan Tribe and Mashantucket Pequot Tribe who operate Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods respectively, will be allowed to offer all forms of online gaming, while the Connecticut Lottery Corporation (CLC) is limited to sports betting and online lottery draw games.
“By signing this bill into law, Connecticut is now on the cusp of providing a modern, technologically advanced gaming experience that will be competitive with our neighboring states and positions us for success into the future,” Governor Lamont said in a press release.
Now that the bill, which passed the state legislature in late May and the Senate last week, has been signed into law, the Lamont administration and the tribes will seek approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior to amend the state’s compact with the tribes. The federal agency must approve the changes to the compact before online gaming and sports wagering can begin in the state.
He continued: “I am confident that the federal government will see fit to approve these amendments to our compact, and in the coming months we can launch a modernized, 21st-century gaming experience in Connecticut.”
Though the bill technically allows online gambling to occur as soon as July 1, it will likely be several months before real-money online poker is available for the state’s residents. The signed measure must also be approved by the US Department of the Interior, which through multiple sub-agencies, administers all issues connected to tribal gaming within the US.
