New Hampshire Online Gambling Plan Has Lawmakers Perplexed

While many states are attacking and raiding Internet cafes, the state of New Hampshire has decided to take the idea and make it work for them. Starting July 1st, online gambling will be offered in the state where lawmakers recently rejected casino gambling.

PlayNowNH will offer customers the opportunity to buy $100 worth of credit at lottery retailers. The gamblers may then take that credit and go online to pick which of the games they would like to play. The games all play out similar to scratch off tickets.

The determination of a win or a loss is made when the credit is bought. That allows New Hampshire to circumvent the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that took effect on June 1st. The UIGEA calls for financial institutions to block transactions to and from online gambling sites.

If a gambler chooses to do so, they may find out if they won on the lottery tickets when they purchase them. They do not need to go online to play the games to find out if their tickets are winners. Even with the state lottery running the online gambling, some lawmakers are miffed that this type of gambling is allowed.

"I'm sure you can say it's no different (than scratch tickets), but we know from the research that's been done there is nothing more addictive than being able to play games on the computer," said House Finance Chair Marjorie Smith, as reported by The Associated Press.

Other states in the Northeast are seeking a much larger version of Internet gambling in the future. New Jersey lawmakers are considering regulating online poker. Florida and California also have legislators pushing for regulated online gambling.

June 25, 2010
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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