Online Gambling in New Hampshire: The Best New Hampshire Gambling Sites for 2024

New Hampshire Daily Fantasy Sports

Daily fantasy sports were legalized for players from New Hampshire in 2017, just before the start of that year’s NFL season. The law was signed in by Governor Chris Sununu, which finally clarified the legality of the game, which had been in something of a grey area for many years. The legality of daily fantasy betting in New Hampshire is currently threatened by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recently announced opinion on the Wire Act, which could see it become illegal again. At this stage, though, the state and DOJ are still sorting through the issues. Here are the best New Hampshire daily fantasy sites:

Gambling Laws in New Hampshire

The gambling laws in New Hampshire are some of the most clear-cut state legislation allowed, with the Granite State taking a fairly firm stance on which types of gambling it wants to be legalized. The majority of the issues with the gambling laws have only come about through the federal laws changing, and changing back again in some cases. Though there has been also some internal back and forth with the taxes it introduced on gambling in 2009, then revoked in 2011, the state tends to go on its own path rather than follow in the footsteps of others. At this point in time, there are legal forms of daily fantasy like the Maryland DFS, pari-mutuel horse and greyhound racing, and casino gaming. There are also rules applying to bingo and ‘games of chance’ that can be held by charity organizations.

New Hampshire Sports Betting

Online and land-based sports betting in New Hampshire are currently illegal. However, the state has attempted several times to change that, with several bills proposed over the last few years. The most recent was in early 2019, which at the time of writing is still at the proposal stage. If it should pass, it will see the state lottery allowed to take bets on sports, as well as offer retail businesses the opportunity to gain licenses to offer sports betting. For further details you can refer to our page about New Hampshire sports betting. We feel the need to mention that there are states where you can enjoy your passion in full, and if you are curious about them, we can refer you to sports betting options in Illinois per example.

New Hampshire Casino Gambling

Online casino gambling is banned in New Hampshire, as are pretty much all forms of commercial casino gaming in the state. The only exception at this time is the charitable games of chance loophole, which allows some organizations to hold games of poker and chance as long as the money goes towards charity. Even cruise ships entering the state’s boundaries are only allowed to do so if they turn off all gambling machines. There have been several attempts to change this legislation over the years from the state government, however none of the proposed bills have passed successfully. For more information on the matter, make sure to check our New Hampshire casino guide!

Poker in New Hampshire

There are currently no legal online poker websites for players from New Hampshire. There is no law specifically banning the game, though the widespread agreement is that it falls under other legislation that bans games of chance for profit. There are a number of land-based poker rooms in the state, though, which are licensed operations that follow regulations from the Racing and Charitable Gaming Division of the New Hampshire state government.

New Hampshire Lottery

New Hampshire made history in 1963 when it became the first state to legalize a lottery, and the New Hampshire Lottery has been running ever since. The revenue is used predominantly to fund educational programs for schools in the state, with the website reporting over $2 billion in profits heading to schools so far. It began selling lottery tickets online in 2017, however only 11 months later there was a bill overturned that could see the sales no longer legally allowed online. For more information about online lottery, make sure to check our New Hampshire lottery page.

History of Gambling in New Hampshire

Though it was the first state to legalize the lottery, New Hampshire isn’t quite as open minded about other forms of gambling as one might think. There have been occasions of gambling legislation gone wrong in the state, such as a 10% tax imposed in 2009 that reports said heavily affected the horse racing wagers industry before it was overturned in 2011. Though state Senator, Lo D’Allesandro has attempted more than 20 times to push bills that legalize casino gambling, they have all failed – likely due to the expected loss of revenue through the lottery as gamblers seek their fortunes elsewhere.

New Hampshire State Facts

The Granite State has a long history of paving its own path forwards, having been the first of the original 13 colonies to declare independence from England in 1776. It has a similar attitude across the board, paying fairly little heed to what other states do and making its own decisions about gambling laws. It’s one of few that still allow greyhound racing, for example, and has no problems with overturning its own laws if it has a negative effect on the state. This was the case with the 2009 law that introduced a 10% tax on horse race betting, which was repealed in 2011.

Gambling Age in New Hampshire

Granite Staters over the age of 18 are legally allowed to participate in the state lottery, as well as play daily fantasy sports at one of many different online operators. This is the youngest that residents can be for any forms of gambling, as playing poker or making pari-mutuel wagers on horse and greyhound racing is restricted to over 21s.

• Online Gambling Age:
  Gamblers over the age of 18 may participate in daily fantasy sports.
• Alcohol Age
  The legal drinking age in New Hampshire is 21+.
• Weed Age
  Marijuana in New Hampshire is decriminalized for people aged 18+.

Responsible Gambling and Addiction Prevention

The responsible gambling options in the state of New Hampshire are unfortunately rather dismal. It doesn’t have a publicly funded program dedicated to either treatment or prevention, and relies purely on the New Hampshire Council on Problem Gambling (NHCPG). The NHCPG is a non-profit organization that receives its only funding in the form of a $25,000 annual donation from the state lottery, which was barely able to fund a single helpline. In 2016, the helpline received over 200 calls, which were solely answered by the Executive Director of the NGCPG, Ed Talbot, who volunteers his own time.

Upcoming Regulation and Expected Changes

The most pressing change that will affect gambling laws in New Hampshire is the new opinion from the DOJ overturning the Wire Act. In 2011, the Wire Act was found to only apply to a type of gambling, in particular sports betting, which halted the possibility for cross-state gambling on sports. However, the new opinion states that this should actually apply to all forms of transfers for wagering, effectively rendering the online sales of state lottery tickets and daily fantasy sports participation fees illegal. At the time of writing, the New Hampshire Lottery is planning to sue. The state is also attempting to legalize sports betting, holding public hearings on proposals in early 2019. At the moment, legal online gambling websites aren’t allowed to operare in NH.

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