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This looks much less interesting than what this thread has made it out to be.
Local News
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An excerpt from the story:
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A practice the attorney general says may be illegal.
"Under federal law in the compact with the tribe gambling can take pace within the reservation boundaries. Clearly this gambling is anywhere, any time. That is exactly their pitch and those circumstances make it severely problematic," says Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
However Foxwoods says Playaway is simply a game and not gambling.
Players buy tickets at Foxwoods that come with an access code so they can log in and play from home.
However the results are already predetermined by a computerized drawing at the casino.
A Spokesperson for Foxwoods, Arthur Henick, says, "Nothing the player does from his computer can impact the outcome of the game. Unlike illegal offshore internet casinos, no financial transactions of any kind ever take place on the internet. There is no betting...no pay out."
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I agree with Granny, they're starting off with the minimum they think they can get away with. They seem to bemaking two arguments here: (1) the part that goes on outside the casino is not gambling, but simply a game, like soccer or chess. Then, whilst in the casino, some people place wagers on those outside games. (2) nothing the player does outside the csino can influence the results. The gamble takes place when the wager is purchased - you merely find out the results from home. As if you put a coin in a weird kind of slot machine which took 4 hours to finish spinning, and then went home and called back on the telephone to find out if you had won.
If they buy #1, poker is in. If only #2, then poker is no closer than before. #2 is much safer, almost so safe that they can risk court battles with little fear of loss. But at the same time it gives them a chance to argue, and possibly get a court rulling on, #1.
gh, foxwoods.