Casino told to stop card game

Saturday, July 23, 2005

By Marc Silvestrini


Copyright © 2005 Republican-American

Foxwoods Resort Casino voluntarily shut down its lottery-like "PlayAway" card game Friday, complying with a state order.

The Division of Special Revenue ordered the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation's gaming commission and Foxwoods in Ledyard to immediately stop marketing the game, which has an Internet component, because it was not reviewed or approved as required by the gaming agreement between the state and the tribe.

The game also "seems to promote gambling to minors" and may violate the Children Online Privacy Act, Paul A. Young, the Division of Special Revenue's executive director, said in ordering the casino to remove any reference to PlayAway from its Web site.

George Henningsen, chairman of the tribal nation's gaming commission, informed Young on Friday that the nation agreed to stop selling PlayAway tickets and had temporarily shut down the game's Web site.

Henningsen said the game's integrity was confirmed by an independent testing lab licensed by the state, and that the results of the independent review were forwarded to the state in letters dated April 21 and May 27. He also denied the game violates the Children On-Line Privacy Act.


The letters explain that the Web site "merely provides an entertaining alternative display for the Keno results," and clearly state that a patron can't affect the outcome of the game by what he does on the Web site, Henningsen said in a letter to Young.
The tribal gaming commission intends "to restart the game no later than its originally planned grand opening" of Aug. 2, Henningsen said. Though the game's official launch date is early next month, tickets were already being sold at the casino. No information on the number of tickets sold was available Friday.

The state order came one day after Attorney General Richard Blumenthal expressed concerns that PlayAway's online component may be illegal and urged the agency to review the game. The Division of Special Revenue is charged with ensuring the integrity of all forms of legalized gambling within the state.

"A game conducted off the reservation and online would seem to violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, as well as other federal laws, and promote gambling more widely," said Blumenthal, who met with tribal officials on Wednesday.

In a letter to the tribal nation dated Friday, Young said the agreement with the state specifically requires review and approval of any new game before it can be introduced to the public.

"The game PlayAway appears to be sufficiently different from any currently authorized game and thus needs to be reviewed by the division," he wrote. He said the agency would make a final determination once it had reviewed the game.

Young also said the agency is "disappointed" that neither the tribal gaming commission nor the tribal gaming authority contacted it before launching the game.

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