Online Casinos in Connecticut

Connecticut licenses real-money online casino play. The statute calls it online casino gaming, and it is regulated by the Department of Consumer Protection under chapter 229b of the General Statutes.

Who Regulates Online Casino Play in Connecticut

Chapter 229b defines department as the Department of Consumer Protection and commissioner as the Commissioner of Consumer Protection or the commissioner's designee, and it is the commissioner who issues licences and whose regulations govern the market. The commissioner may issue a master wagering license to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and a master wagering license to the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, and a master wagering license to the Connecticut Lottery Corporation covers retail and online sports wagering, fantasy contests, keno and online lottery ticket sales.

The online casino market is therefore closed rather than open. Each master wagering license shall permit the licensee to operate one skin for online sports wagering within the state, operate one skin for online casino gaming within the state and operate fantasy contests within the state. A skin, in the statute's own definition, is the branded or cobranded name and logo on the interface that bettors use to reach an electronic wagering platform. Behind a skin sits an online gaming operator, a business that runs the platform and contracts directly with a master wagering licensee.

Online casino gaming became an excepted activity under Connecticut's gambling chapter through Public Act 21-23, which inserted the provision covering online casino gaming, online sports wagering, retail sports wagering and fantasy contests with effect from 1 July 2021.

Which Games Count as Online Casino Gaming

The definition is unusually concrete. Online casino gaming means slots, blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat, poker and video poker, bingo, live dealer and other peer-to-peer games and any variations of them, plus any games authorised by the department, conducted over the internet through a platform that does not require a bettor to be physically present at a facility. The department's own plain-language explanation is that online casino gaming is when you place wagers on casino games on a device connected to the internet.

Age and Location Requirements

The age limit for casino games is 21. An individual may place a wager through online casino gaming conducted outside the tribes' reservations only if the wagering is authorised under the relevant sections and the individual has attained the age of twenty-one and is physically present in the state when placing the wager. The licensed platform must verify both. The department puts the same rule more simply: you have to be 21 years old to play casino games, and 18 to participate in other forms of gaming.

Sweepstakes Casinos in Connecticut

Sweepstakes casinos are prohibited in Connecticut, and the prohibition names them in substance. As amended by Public Act 25-112, section 42-301 provides that no person shall conduct or promote a sweepstakes or a promotional drawing that allows or facilitates participation in any real or simulated online casino gaming or sports wagering, unless such person is licensed under chapter 229b. The same section separately bars a sweepstakes that uses a simulated gambling device, a term Connecticut defines to cover a display taking the form of actual or simulated gambling play, including a video poker game, a video slot machine, a video bingo game, a video craps game or a video keno game.

The consequences are both criminal and civil: a person who violates the section is subject to the penalty for professional gambling, and any violation of subsection (a) is deemed an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. A sweepstakes casino is not a licensed alternative to an online casino here.

Problem Gambling Help in Connecticut

The Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling says on its own site that if you or someone you care about has a gambling problem you can call its free, confidential helpline 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 1-888-789-7777, and it offers a live chat as an alternative for people who would rather not speak by phone. The Council is a private not-for-profit organisation affiliated with the National Council on Problem Gambling, which brands the national helpline 1-800-MY-RESET on its own pages.

Protections are also built into the licences. Every licensed platform must establish a voluntary self-exclusion process letting a person exclude themselves from establishing an account, exclude themselves from placing wagers through an account, or limit the amount they may spend, must provide responsible gambling and problem gambling information, and must display a toll-free telephone number for problem gambling information and a link to the self-exclusion process.