Connecticut Residents Bet In Rhode Island As Local Lawmakers Look For Ways To Cash In
“We’re like a deer in headlights — we’re staring at other states around us and yet we’re afraid to do it because we’re a conservative state,” said East Hartford resident Mark Titan regarding movement on the legalization sports betting. Photo by Frankie Graziano for Connecticut Public Radio
Last year, the United States Supreme Court opened the door for states to make it legal to bet on sports. More recently, Connecticut lawmakers voted to send a bill that would legalize sports betting to the floor of the state legislature. But what could legalized sports betting look like here in the Land of Steady Habits? To answer that question, let’s take a look first at neighboring Rhode Island, which debuted sports betting in November.
Twin River Casino in Lincoln is one of two sportsbooks in Rhode Island where you can bet on games. Mark Titan lives about an hour and a half away in East Hartford.
“There’s two ways to get here,” said Titan on Sunday, January 6. “You can go up I-84 to I-295 down Rt. 146 or you can go Rt. 2 to I-395 to Rt. 6 — backroads that way.”
Titan had the Los Angeles Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles in his $300 teaser bet, so he had to get both games to go his way in order to win.