Connecticut Tribes Hope to Win Big With Online Poker

Connecticut has two casinos that generate millions of dollars a year for the state. 

Mohegan Tribe Chairman Bruce “Two Dogs” Bozsum looks with pride at the main gaming floor. He’s sitting a level above the action inside a trendy bar called Womby Rock.

“We’re packed all the time. 30 to 35,000 people come through here a day."

The entire casino resort covers 185 acres. It has an upscale 1200 room hotel that reaches thirty-four stories high, nightclubs, celebrity chef restaurants by Bobby Flay and Todd English and an arena that hosts big name entertainers from Neil Diamond to Toby Keith.

Bozsum says all of those attractions help keep casino patrons at Mohegan Sun.

“It’s a different market now, people come in they gamble for awhile. If they win, they leave immediately. Older times, people would spend more time a table, more time at a slot machine.”

At the height of the recession, revenue dipped twenty percent. Now, it’s slowly climbing again. Under an agreement with Connecticut, both casinos give 25 percent of their slot revenue to the state. When the U.S Department of Justice ruling cleared the way for states to operate online poker and lotteries, Bozsum says he immediately made a call to Governor Dannel Malloy. Since then Malloy has spoken out in favor of internet gambling.

“We’re talking about the employment of tens of thousands of individuals”

Malloy is negotiating a deal that might put the tribes in charge of Connecticut's new online gaming enterprise. Malloy says he’s no fan of gambling but he feels the state will lose big if it doesn’t explore this potential new revenue stream. This is more important now as other states including Massachusetts enter the gaming market.

“They’ve announced they’re going to have five casinos. New Jersey Governor has announced that he wants New Jersey to be the online gaming capital of the world tied with the presence of the gaming industry which is competitive with our industry in Connecticut. We’ve gotta be watching those things.”

Whether Connecticut residents are watching depends on whether they’re regular casino patrons.

Buses heading for the casinos pick up several times a day at parking lots across the state. Some people waiting to board say they just play slots and have no interest in online poker. But Marquis Jackson says he's interested.

“I’m intrigued by it but nothing like doing the real thing. It’s nothing like the real thing. Being on the computer is alright but at the end of the day, everybody go to the casino. I like to breath the air, you know sip the drinks, watch the people.”

Mohegan Tribe Chairman, Bruce Two Dogs Bozsum says there are a lot of people like Jackson who love the casino atmosphere.

“They may play at home too or at work, who knows? There’s no way to tell who’s going to play. But it will introduce a lot of new players to the game of poker.”

And to Mohegan Sun, new players may mean new customers who want more excitement than playing online poker at home.

For npr news I’m Lucy Nalpathanchil in Hartford.

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