Menu
When Foxwoods Resort Casino opened in 1992, gaming jurisdictions in the United States were limited to three locations: The State of Nevada, Atlantic City New Jersey, and the Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Indian Reservation. Because of this, the Mashantucket Pequots pioneered not only class-three resort gaming for Indian Country, but also Indian Gaming regulation.
Determined to establish the highest operational standards and integrity, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe appointed the first-ever tribal gaming commission consisting of the nation’s top gaming law experts and operators to oversee the development and enforcement of its Gaming Ordinance and Procedures with a goal to meet or exceed industry standards. Ratified by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Mashantucket Pequots’ gaming procedures have served as a primer for tribes nationwide and remain in effect to this day.
Today, the Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Commission consists of six Commissioners and an Executive Director who oversee the following Divisions: Investigations, Compliance, Licensing, Inspections, and Athletic Regulation. Our goals are to ensure the integrity of gaming operations on the Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Indian Reservation and to safeguard the Tribe’s assets and credibility through innovation, consistency and fairness in our approach to effective regulatory oversight. Our vision is to continue meeting the industry’s technological advances as innovators in and architects of progressive regulatory oversight.
The Investigation Division promotes the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and its gaming enterprises by conducting independent investigations and other studies to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse as well as circumvent criminal activity through collaboration with gaming departments, the Tribe’s Police Department and state and federal law enforcement agencies.
The mission of the Compliance office is to ensure the gaming operations of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation are conducted with integrity, to guarantee the protection of tribal assets, and to maintain consumer confidence.
Compliance is responsible for ensuring that all applicable rules and regulations are incorporated into standards available to the gaming enterprise to follow. New gaming opportunities are thoroughly evaluated in accordance with current rules and regulations in order to safeguard the integrity of new games or devices and ensure further testing and operating standards are developed where they do not currently exist.
The Mission of the Licensing Division is to attain optimal employee and vendor licensure processes that maintain the Tribe’s sovereign regulatory authority, meet the requirements of our Gaming Procedures and minimizes risk to the Tribe, its employees, and the general public. Our goals and objectives are focused on screening employees and vendors.
The Inspection division continuously monitors all Class II and Class III gaming to ensure regulatory compliance. To protect the public interest in the integrity of the gaming operations and to reduce the danger of unsuitable, unfair, or illegal practices in the conduct of gaming, our Inspectors have a presence on the gaming premises 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and always have unfettered access to all areas of the gaming facility and its records.
The Athletic Regulatory Division protects the integrity of unarmed combat tournaments held on the reservation, including amateur and professional Boxing, Muay Thai and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Emphasis is placed on ensuring each sport is conducted in a manner that provides the utmost safety to its participants. Our regulations ensure the safety and appropriate conduct of all participants and officials, including judges, referees, ringside physicians, and all persons connected with the oversight of unarmed combat.