New Hampshire Online Casino Bill Advances to Senate Finance Committee After 13-11 Vote

New Hampshire has moved Senate Bill 104 one step further into the legislative pipeline, but the bill still has a long way to go before any regulated online casino market exists in the state. For PSPs and operators, the important part is simple: this is a live iGaming proposal with a defined tax-and-allocation model, and it is already running into pushback from existing gaming interests.

1. SB 104 passed the New Hampshire Senate by a narrow 13-11 vote and now heads to the Senate Finance Committee for review. That committee will examine whether the proposal can support a regulated market for online casino games in the state.
2. If approved, the bill would let New Hampshire residents play digital versions of blackjack, poker, roulette, baccarat and craps through licensed operators. It would also require age and identity verification, geolocation, wagering limits, and voluntary self-exclusion — the usual compliance stack, because casino-grade payments without controls is how problems start.
3. The fiscal pitch is doing a lot of the work here: roughly 35% of net online casino profits would go to scholarships through the Community College System of New Hampshire, and another 10% would go to the New Hampshire Lottery for administrative costs. Supporters also cited revenue projections of about $5 million in the first year, $20 million in the second year, and $30 million by the third.
4. Opposition is coming from New Hampshire’s charitable gaming sector, which has about 16 facilities where casino-style games and poker generate money for nonprofit organizations. Sen. Bill Gannon told the Union Leader that online gambling could “eat away” at charitable funds, while Churchill Downs — owner of Chasers Poker Room and Casino in Salem — has also opposed the bill through lobbyist and former Senate president Peter Bragdon.
5. The policy question is not happening in a vacuum. New Hampshire already allows online sports betting through its exclusive DraftKings arrangement with the New Hampshire Lottery, along with online lottery products. Online casino gaming would be a bigger expansion because casino games can be played continuously, rather than being tied to sporting events.

New Hampshire’s land-based gaming market is also moving at the same time: Revo Casino is preparing a major expansion, and lawmakers are considering changes to charitable gaming rules under Senate Bill 542. SB 104 is not the state’s first iGaming attempt, which is usually a useful clue that this debate is going to take more than one legislative round.