New Hampshire passes on online casino gambling

An attempt to legalize online casino gambling in New Hampshire has been put to bed for another year after an online casino bill was tabled.

Senator Tim Lang tabled his bill in the Senate Ways and Means Committee despite the committee recommending it be passed. Lang did not believe the bill had enough support in the legislature to proceed.

Under Lang’s now tabled bill the New Hampshire Lottery would have been put in charge of regulating online casinos. Between three and six licenses could have been issued, with each license connected to an existing gaming venue. Online casino revenue would have been taxed at 45 percent.

The proposed online gaming license distribution differed from how the state previously regulated sports betting when it was legalized in 2019. Under sports betting rules, the New Hampshire Lottery holds the only license and partners with DraftKings. This effectively gives DraftKings a monopoly on sports betting in the state.

New Hampshire has joined several other states that have failed in attempts to legalize online casino gaming during the latest legislative session. They include Virginia, Hawaii, Wyoming, and Indiana. However, Ohio, Maryland, and New York all have proposals for online casino gaming still under discussion with hope that at least one will be successful this year.

If one of those three states were to agree to legalize online casino gaming, they would join seven others which include Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.