With its proximity to large states like New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, Connecticut is a hotbed for residents who work in those states. With the changes to gambling laws, both land-based and online, in the neighboring states, it is time to give you an update on where poker stands in Connecticut – where and what you can play, why it is important to keep learning, and how states surrounding Connecticut could shape its future in the state.
Online Poker in Connecticut
Connecticut was once a very popular place for online poker players. With two massive casinos in the state hosting major poker tournaments, players in the 2000s would jump online to any number of huge online poker sites to try to play their way into these events via satellite tournaments or just to take on the millions of players from around the world on these sites 24 hours a day.
These days, the online poker landscape in Connecticut looks very different. With the closure of the online poker sites to American players as a result of the action by the Department of Justice in 2011, there hasn’t been a legal online poker option for players in Connecticut since. The good news is that there has been poker legislation in states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and there is talk of a new gambling bill being introduced this year that may include poker for the state. For the time being, poker players are having to search for alternative ways to stay sharp and see flops, and this is what this page is designed to help you with.
Land Based Poker in Connecticut
As we mentioned above, there is a healthy gambling culture in Connecticut. There are many off-track betting sites spread around the states for horse racing enthusiasts, but we are here to talk about poker! Poker players can choose from two live poker rooms in the state, but these aren’t just any poker rooms – they are part of massive casino resorts located right in Connecticut. Both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun have a great history with poker in the state, each hosting major land-based poker championships back in the day. While the online industry has gone away, the popularity of poker has not waned, and this can be seen when you enter either of these huge rooms.
If you are looking to play in along cash game session or take a shot at winning one of the many tournaments hosted at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun, you are not going to be disappointed by what you find when you walk in the property!
Social Poker Sites in Connecticut
When the real-money online poker sites were operating in the United States back in the 2000s, many people may not have realized that the majority of the players on the sites at any given time were actually playing at the play money tables. Poker had become one of the first online social platforms, and so it only made sense that when social networks like Facebook came to prominence, poker would be involved in some way.
Social poker sites, which allow you to play without having to make a deposit, became very popular in the early 2010s. These sites were built on the concept that players wanted to show off how far they had come or how many people they had beaten in a poker tournament and that this would mean as much to many as making money doing so. Companies like Zynga were not wrong – people were now buying play money chips in order to enter some of the larger events so they could keep up with their online neighbors. Today, residents of Connecticut can access any of the many social poker sites that exist in the market today – make your way to the top of the Leaderboard!
Subscription Poker in Connecticut
As the displaced poker players in states like Connecticut searched for ways to enjoy their favorite games in the aftermath of 2011, one interesting solution arose. Some clever entrepreneurs determined that there was a way to make poker tournaments become classified as sweepstakes games, and with that, the subscription-based platform was born. Today, the subscription model still exists and has a big backer in the World Poker Tour. Club WPT is a site where players from Connecticut are welcome to register for an account and pay a monthly fee to access all the tournaments. These tournaments do not have buy-ins aside from that monthly fee and award hundreds of thousands of dollars of prizes each month. This culminates each month in an event that awards a seat in a World Poker Tour event.
While there are no entry fees for the tournaments, make no mistake – this is real poker. If you are missing that tournament fix and don’t want to make your way to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun, then a subscription poker site may be exactly what you need.
Mobile Poker in Connecticut
When real-money poker sites were all the rage back in the 2000s, mobile phone technology had not progressed to a point where mobile sites were sustainable. Today that is no longer the case as we all carry miniature computers in our pockets. Online poker sites around the globe are adapting their technology to be mobile-friendly, and in some cases, firms have gone with a mobile-first outlook to product development.
Many of the free play, social poker, and subscription poker companies offer downloadable native apps for iOS and Android – if you head to your app store from your phone you will find a full list of games you can download so you can take your love of poker with you wherever you travel!
Online Poker in Connecticut FAQ
Where can I learn more about poker so I can get better at the game?
We are here to help you with that! We offer a full Games Guide section on this site, which has been designed by our team to give help to all types of players. Whether you are new to poker and don’t know where to begin, or someone looking to learn more about a game you haven’t played much like Omaha or Razz, our experts have laid out everything you need to know in an easy-to-read format. Having some basic knowledge of the game makes playing it so much better, so take the time to scroll through our Guide section.
I sometimes see ads for online poker sites open in Connecticut – what are those?
Even though all the major sites had to abandon the U.S. market in 2011, it appears that the crackdown stopped short of taking down all the sites. Smaller sites, which hadn’t been caught breaking the banking laws that had been enacted, managed to survive and today continue to operate from countries like Costa Rica and Panama. While you may be considering playing with one of these sites, recent history has shown that they can go out of business without warning, taking players hard-earned money with them. With now legal leg to stand on, do you really want to take on that additional risk rather than just playing live in a poker room in Connecticut or with one of the social or subscription models that exist today? We didn’t think so.
