Online gambling in Connecticut to launch on a limited basis Tuesday
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Bettors can gamble on their phones, tablets and other online devices beginning Tuesday, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection announced.
The agency said Friday it notified the Connecticut Lottery Corp., Mohegan Tribe and Mashantucket Pequot Tribe — owners and operators of the state’s two casinos — they may begin a seven-day limited launch beginning at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Once the so-called “soft launch” is complete, online gambling will open statewide, the Department of Consumer Protection said.
Legislation signed by Gov. Ned Lamont in May ushered in the broadest expansion of gambling in Connecticut since the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino opened in the 1990s. Sports betting was launched at the two casinos on Sept. 30.
For the Connecticut Lottery Corp., the scope of the soft launch allows betting only in Connecticut and limits gambling to 750 online accounts during the seven days. Hours also are limited for gambling before a 24-hour cycle is permitted.
For the casinos, the soft launch will not include live dealer or peer-to-peer online casino games, imposes a limit to betting by 750 accounts and restricts hours for wagering. Betting will be permitted on about 100 games approved by the consumer protection agency.
FanDuel and DraftKings, the sports betting partners of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, and Rush Street Interactive, the approved platform working with the Lottery Corp., are authorized to begin establishing customer accounts for the 750 individuals that will take part in the soft launch.
“After more than a decade of advocacy and negotiation, statewide sports betting and iGaming is finally coming to Connecticut,” Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, said in an email. “This has been a remarkable implementation schedule, from legislative approval in the spring to retail and online gaming this fall.
“We’ve made it to the finish line and we’re excited to finally launch.”
Online gambling is the second of three expanded gambling platforms.
Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun celebrated the start of sports betting Sept. 30, four months after Lamont signed legislation broadening gambling that also includes 15 Connecticut Lottery sites around the state for gamblers to bet on sports teams and play other games.
The Connecticut Lottery Corp. has not announced when the sites will open.
With its digital reach by phones, computers and apps that will provide access to a multitude of games, online gambling is expected to pull in far more revenue than sports betting. Connecticut’s two casinos took a big financial hit during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, shutting from mid-March 2020 to early June and reopening on a limited basis.
Negotiations for expanded gambling between Lamont and the tribes focused on changing the compacts with the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans that gave them exclusive gambling rights in exchange for a 25% tax on slot machine revenue.
The revised gambling rules signed into law calls for an 18% tax for the first five years on online commercial casino gambling, followed by a 20% tax for at least the next five years and a 13.75% tax on sports wagering and expansion of iLottery and Keno through the Connecticut Lottery Corp., including the sale of draw tickets online.
