Gambling Laws in New Hampshire

New Hampshire is home to a couple of unique situations regarding its gambling laws. Though the state is home to 8 casinos, these are only allowed to offer poker games. While sports betting was recently legalised, only one operator can offer markets.

What Type of Gambling Is Legal in New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Revised Statutes, section 647.2; 284.1 outlines the state's legal stance on gambling, with all forms deemed illegal unless otherwise specified. In reality, there are many legal activities including horse race betting, poker, bingo, lottery and most recently, sports betting.

The New Hampshire Lottery Commission regulates all types of gambling in the state. 

Playing Casino Games

Casino gambling is legal in New Hampshire, but only in very limited forms. 8 venues currently operate, but charitable organisations run these and only poker games are offered. Occasionally these 'casinos' can also run limited tables such as blackjack and roulette on special nighttime events.

Online casino gambling is illegal in New Hampshire though there is no specific mention of the activity in current legislation. Residents can still play games online at money-free social casinos, using chips and credits. Free slot games are also allowed with a range of apps available for residents of the Granite State.

Gambling on Poker

Poker is legal and makes up most of the state's gambling activities. The eight so-called casinos are poker rooms, with the largest and most popular being Rockingham Park in Salem, The Poker Room in Hampton Falls and the River Card Room in Milford. All eight venues are required to be run by charitable organisations. No commercial poker rooms, halls or clubs are permitted in New Hampshire.

Online poker is illegal and none of the existing land-based poker venues are allowed to offer games over the Internet.

Bingo

Playing bingo with cash is legal but charitable organisations can only run these games. Commercial halls are not permitted and online bingo gambling is also illegal.

No charitable bingo operators are allowed to offer online games, and bingo casinos online are not permitted to accept players from the state by law.

Purchasing Lottery Tickets

Lottery gambling is legal, with the New Hampshire Lottery licensed to sell tickets for various state and national draw-based games such as Powerball and Mega Millions, plus scratch cards and keno.

Online lottery gambling is one of the only forms of online gambling legally permitted in the state. The New Hampshire Lottery is authorised to sell draw tickets online via its website. Still, they also offer iLottery games called e-Instants, many of which are similar to online lottery casino games.

Social Gambling and Crypto Casinos

Social casinos do not fall within New Hampshire's definition of gambling, as there is no real money involved. Sites and apps offering casino-style games that can only be played with chips are allowed. More modern forms of gambling, such as loot boxes and skins, have yet to be defined and legislated for in New Hampshire, although there is ongoing debate on the subject.

New Hampshire is crypto-friendly, with various exchanges operating within the state. That said, none of the existing gambling venues accept Bitcoin or altcoins as payment. Those in search of Bitcoin-friendly casino games can find them at the numerous crypto gambling sites that accept players from New Hampshire, although the state will view this as illegal.

Is Sports Betting Legal in New Hampshire?

A bill passed in 2019 legalised sports betting in the state, but the situation is somewhat unique. DraftKings is currently the only operator allowed to offer sports betting in New Hampshire.

This is due to the sportsbook paying the state a whopping 51% revenue share, basically outcompeting others on the market. The agreement also means that adding other sportsbooks would reduce revenue share, effectively creating a monopoly by snuffing out competition. There are currently three physical sports bookmakers in New Hampshire, all of which are operated by DraftKings.

Online sports betting is legal in New Hampshire, but markets can only be offered by DraftKings.

Parimutuel horse race betting is legal, but the state's two racetracks, Rochester Fair and Rockingham Park, no longer offer live races. Off-track betting is available via sites such as TwinSpires.

DraftKings and FanDuel offer daily fantasy sports betting after a bill was passed permitting such activities in 2017.

What Is the Minimum Age to Gamble in New Hampshire?

This is 18 for lottery games, bingo and sports betting, and 21 for horse race betting, poker and casino games.

Gambling Tax Regulations

Residents are charged a 6% tax on lottery winnings in the state. However, winnings from other forms of gambling, such as sports betting, are tax-free at the state level. A 24% tax is withheld on gambling winnings above $5,000 at the federal level.

History of Gambling Laws in New Hampshire

The earliest mention of gambling laws in New Hampshire dates back to 1933 when parimutuel horse race betting was legalised. Bingo, raffles and limited lottery games were then permitted for charitable purposes in 1949.

Lottery gambling was legalised in 1963, with the New Hampshire Lottery (then called the New Hampshire Sweepstakes) launching in 1964.

Parimutuel greyhound race betting was permitted in 1971.

Betting limits on charitable gambling games were increased in 2014 and abolished completely in 2015.

Daily fantasy sports betting was legally permitted in 2017, while sports betting in offline and online forms was legalised in 2019.

Historical horse racing (horse racing machines) hosted by charitable organisations was legalized in 2021.

Key Facts

• Casino gambling is legal in New Hampshire, but only as poker games and occasional blackjack and roulette games during designated event nights.

• Online casino gambling is illegal.

• Poker gambling is legal, with the state home to 8 dedicated rooms.

• Online poker gambling is illegal.

• Bingo gambling is legal, but only charitable organisations can run such games.

• Online bingo gambling is illegal.

• Lottery gambling is legal offline and online, but only via the New Hampshire Lottery.

• Both offline and online sports betting are legal, but DraftKings has a monopoly in the state.

• Daily fantasy sports betting is legal.