Gambling in Connecticut: a brief history
Connecticut's path to legal gambling started with the 1992 opening of Foxwoods, followed by Mohegan Sun in 1996, and then sports betting plus online casino in October 2021 under a two-tribes-plus-CT-Lottery licensing structure. What makes the timeline unusual is that Connecticut funded gambling treatment from the start. The 1992 compact between the state and the Mashantucket Pequot tribe earmarked dollars for problem-gambling services, which seeded the Bettor Choice clinical network. Three decades later, that head start shows: clinicians in Connecticut are more likely to be familiar with evidence-based gambling-recovery frameworks, including SMART Recovery's Four-Point Program, than clinicians in states where treatment funding came later.
SMART Recovery in Connecticut
SMART Recovery's footprint in Connecticut is smaller than its 12-step counterpart but growing. Roughly 9 SMART meetings operate in the state, with most addressing a mix of substance use and behavioral addictions rather than focusing exclusively on gambling. Gambling-specific SMART groups are concentrated in Hartford and New Haven, with online options hosted by SMART USA accessible to anyone in Connecticut. The program's secular framing and CBT-rooted toolset (cost-benefit analysis, urge logs, the ABC technique) appeal to Connecticut residents who are already in clinical treatment through Bettor Choice and want a peer support group that uses the same vocabulary as their counselor. Several CT clinicians actively refer Bettor Choice clients into SMART meetings as a complement to outpatient care, and a handful of meeting facilitators are themselves licensed clinicians who volunteer their time. SMART in Connecticut also tends to skew younger and more sports-betting-focused than GA, partly because newer gamblers entering recovery in 2024 and 2025 often arrive without the church-basement-meeting cultural expectation that older 12-step members carry.
State-funded recovery resources
SMART Recovery groups in Connecticut benefit from the same state infrastructure that supports GA. The Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling at www.ccpg.org runs the 1-888-789-7777 helpline and lists SMART meetings alongside 12-step options in its referral material. The Bettor Choice outpatient network, established in 1992, integrates SMART Recovery tools into individual and group therapy, which means a Connecticut resident can move from clinical CBT-style treatment into a peer-led SMART group without changing therapeutic frameworks. The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) does not fund SMART meetings directly, but DMHAS-funded clinics frequently host them in their facilities. Self-exclusion is administered through the Department of Consumer Protection's Gaming Division and applies to Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, and the three legal online platforms (FanDuel, DraftKings, CT Lottery). The 1-800-GAMBLER national helpline is also active in Connecticut and routes callers to local resources.
Connecticut state helpline · 24/7 confidential
1-888-789-7777Operated by the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling
What recovery looks like in Connecticut
SMART Recovery's culture in Connecticut differs from GA in three noticeable ways. First, there is no higher power language and no powerlessness framing. Members talk about gambling as a learned behavior that can be unlearned with CBT tools, which lands differently than the 12-step disease model. Second, SMART meetings are time-limited as a design philosophy: members are expected to graduate out as their self-management skills develop, rather than attend indefinitely. Third, the Connecticut SMART community draws heavily from people already in clinical treatment, which produces meetings that feel closer to a therapy-adjacent skills group than to a fellowship. That fit works well for sports bettors and online-casino players whose entry into problem gambling came through a phone app rather than a casino floor. It works less well for people who want the spiritual scaffolding of a 12-step fellowship, and many Connecticut residents in recovery attend both. The state's SMART community is also notably hybrid in delivery: even in-person CT groups commonly accept Zoom attendees, which lowers the friction of trying a meeting before committing.
9 SMART Recovery meetings in Connecticut
See the live meeting map filtered to SMART Recovery on the live meeting map, or open the full SMART Recovery hub at /meetings/smart/.