The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reported Sunday that shortly after McCain's failed 2000 presidential bid he spent time at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, the world's second-largest casino, where he bet $100 chips at a craps table.

The newspaper reported McCain was playing at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and was doing so with a lobbyist representing that casino, three of the Arizona senator's associates say.

The junket had been arranged by lobbyist Scott Reed, who works for the Mashantucket Pequot, a Native American tribe that has contributed heavily to McCain's campaigns. Also on the trip was Rick Davis, McCain's current campaign manager.

The Times reported that as a two-time chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, McCain has done more than any other member of Congress to shape the laws governing America's casinos.

Steven Light, a University of North Dakota professor and a leading Indian gambling expert, called McCain "one of the founding fathers of Indian gaming."