Under recently approved legislation, Connecticut has become the sixth U.S. state to legalize online gaming and the seventh to authorize online poker.
Online poker is still in bad odor in some states owing to the persistence of some websites in allowing residents of states that haven’t legalized it to play with money.
Last year the U.S. Justice Department prosecuted Isai Scheinberg, founder of PokerStars, one of the largest internet gambling concerns, in a ten-year-old case that dated back to April 15, 2011 and so-called Black Friday. On that date, the Justice Department cracked down massively on unregulated poker sites across the U.S. for allegedly violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).
While most poker sites fled America, PokerStars, under new ownership by the European gaming company Flutter, stayed to fight. It has become active in the legal online poker markets of, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan. And it will most likely seek to enter the new Connecticut market.
May 27 Governor Ned Lamont signed into law legislation that authorized online sports betting, casino and online poker. This allows the state lottery and Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes to offer those games.
They have a monopoly on all online gaming, while Connecticut Lottery Corp. shares with them sports betting and online lottery.
PokerStars is most likely the company the tribes will turn to. However, it might also consider BetMGM or Caesars Interactive. None of this will happen quickly. The recently approved compacts between the state and tribes must be endorsed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs before they take effect.
