New CT bill would establish posted betting limits, enable poker compacting

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The latest gambling bill filed by Connecticut lawmakers proposes limiting the maximum amount that sports bettors can place on a wager.

The House General Law Committee’s SB01464 would “disclose the maximum sports wagers established for online sports wagering” and require the Commissioner of Consumer Protection to adopt regulations establishing these maximum bets.”

The bill’s text in its initial form does not include any indication of what these betting ceilings may be.

The bill, which would repeal a section of the state’s statute and replace it with new language, would also clarify the definition of a wager to include free play, loyalty points or other redeemable betting credits or other non-monetary things of value risked or an uncertain occurrence or outcome that did not require an entry fee to participate.

Other new sports betting-related measures would include the establishment of a toll-free telephone number that bettors could call to receive direct assistance from an operator. Another provision would mandate that if an operator discovers an odds-related error, it must not accept any more bets on the relevant event until the error is resolved and must refund each affected bettor in full.

Could Connecticut join Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement?

SB01464, which was referred to the Senate’s Joint Committee on General Law on Thursday, also addresses the possibility of introducing peer-to-peer casino gaming.

Connecticut currently does not offer statewide online poker even though the vertical is legal in the state. But, effective July 1, 2025, the state governor would be able to sign agreements with other states or tribes to allow online operators to conduct multijurisdictional iGaming for P2P casino games. That would legally allow Connecticut gamers to play card games and tournaments such as poker against players in other states.

That would seem to open up the possibility of Connecticut joining the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), which currently consists of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan and West Virginia. Through the agreement, those six states are able to pool their players for P2P gaming. To date, West Virginia has not launched online poker at all in the state and Pennsylvania continues to only offer statewide online poker.

Latest bill joins raft of CT legislation

This is just one of numerous gambling bills that have been filed in Connecticut this year.

In January, Rep. Tony Scott introduced five pieces of legislation concerning everything from amending sports betting markets to establishing a maximum hold percentage for sports betting operators to legalizing in-state college wagering.

Another representative, Christopher Rosario launched an effort to authorize and regulate in-flight sports betting on scheduled flights that originate or end in the Constitution State.

Then, in February, a group of lawmakers filed a bill that would prevent online sweepstakes and lottery ticket couriers from operating in the state.

Those seven bills have all been referred to committee but none have made further progress at the time of writing.

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