Connecticut Online Poker Is Still A Waiting GameTribal Chairman Offers Update On Interstate Compact Situation |
|
Connecticut officially legalized online gaming in February 2022. And while online poker was officially the go ahead, the Constitution State has yet to see much movement in getting the virtual poker tables up and running.
Online gaming is left to the state’s tribal gaming operators – the Mohegan Tribe, which operates the Mohegan Sun, and the Mashantucket Pequot, which operates Foxwoods. A report this week noted that there still seems to be some waiting in store for Connecticut players.
“It’s coming eventually,” Mashantucket Pequot Chairman Rodney Butler told PlayUSA. “The issue with online poker in every market is liquidity. If you don’t have a large enough pool, it’s not as successful. And so we haven’t gone down the path of trying to identify how we do those multistate agreements and the like that would build enough liquidity for it to be worthwhile for the players and for us.”
As a small population state, Connecticut would need to join the interstate shared liquidity market with other states such as New Jersey, Michigan, and Nevada to see any kind of significant player pool.
Law Came Up Short
That may not be easy. While the law allows the tribes to partner with major online operators like PokerStars and PartyPoker, the regulations didn’t include the ability to pool players with other states – a considerable obstacle.
Legislators would need to change the law to allow interstate compacts.
“We want to make sure that we’re maximizing iGaming and sports betting, and if we need any fixes there then that’s what we’ll go back to the legislature for,” Butler said. “If there’s an opportunity to add a multistate access on the liquidity side for poker, we’d do that then too.”
With a population of just 3.6 million people, Connecticut is too small to operate a major online poker market. However, those players could be a nice addition to a player pool with other states.
PokerStars operates a shared player pool in Michigan and New Jersey. WSOP.com operates a shared network in Nevada, New Jersey, and with 888poker in Delaware. However, Rush Street Interactive recently won the bid in Delaware to take over online gaming soon and hasn’t offered an update on the company’s poker plans.
Like Connecticut, West Virginia is a low population state with 1.8 million and also legalized online gaming and poker. The state did allow for interstate compacts but has yet to see any operators launch.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
