New Hampshire Casinos and Gambling

Short Summary: This page looks at the different forms of gambling in the State of New Hampshire, discusses the legality of online gambling and gives a detailed listing of all of the Commercial and Tribal casinos in the state.

New Hampshire is a fairly odd state when it comes to its gambling laws. While there is very little chance of them getting online gambling or commercial casinos (with slots) anytime in the near future, they do allow card rooms with certain table games as well as live poker. My understanding is that these are categorized as games of skill in the state.

Horse racing and simulcast wagering is legal in the State of New Hampshire, but presently does not operate. As it turns out, you can put a large shopping mall right beside a horse race track and the truth will be that most people will not care about the track. Rockingham Park found this out the hard way and, having closed for good in 2016, was the last horse racing track in the state. The track was completely demolished the following year.

While horse racing could theoretically (it won’t) return to the state, greyhound racing, which was once something of a pastime, is now illegal.

The card rooms, some of which self-describe as, “Casinos,” have recently come into being and have created a thriving little poker community in the state.

Online gambling is not presently legal in the state, but Daily Fantasy Sports is as it is considered a game of skill.

As far as the card rooms is concerned, there was previously a betting limit of $4 in the state, but that has been amended to no-limit, except the maximum buy-in is $150 at a time.

Top 4 New Hampshire Casino Sites

Top sites ranked by 10 years of experience

1	Vegas Casino Online	100% up to $11,000 Sign up	Read Review Play Players Accepted
2	Shazam Casino	250% up to ∞	Read Review Play Players Accepted
3	Bovada Casino	125% up to $1,250	Read Review Play Players Accepted
4	Lucky Tiger Casino	300% up to $3,000 Sign up	Read Review Play Players Accepted

Online Gambling In New Hampshire:

Update: New Hampshire is now home to online sports betting, which has been the case since 2020.

The top three online sportsbooks in the state are DraftKings, DraftKings and DraftKings.

Why DraftKings? The answer to that is because no other sportsbook can even apply for a license until the year 2026, at which point, this issue might be revisited.

New Hampshire was in a bit of a unique position when it comes to online sports betting, because the state is home to such a small population. For that reason, it doesn’t really behoove the state to have a ton of legal operators as it creates more work for them, but as their motto is, “Live Free or Die,” it would appear that they wanted their residents to be free to make sports bets.

Of course, this legalization also must benefit the state, so it is with that the state enacted a tax of 50% of all sports betting net revenues. Generally speaking, one would expect this to turn operators off, and in a big way, but they came to a deal with DK by which DK would be given exclusivity, at least for a six year period, to offer their services to residents of The Granite State.

I guess having one is better than having none at all, though the situation is probably less than ideal for sportsbook bonus whoring.

New Hampshire does not have regulated online casino-style games, or poker, and we do not expect them to start legalizing those anytime soon. Even if they did, we presume that they would also DraftKings exclusivity on those, but we doubt that will happen, as The Granite State probably wants to protect the business of their small cardrooms somewhat and is generally opposed to most forms of casino gambling.

Fortunately, many online casinos have been offering their products to residents of the state for a very long time; please feel free to check out our top recommendations listed above!

The law specifies that gambling in any form not specifically authorized by the state is a Misdemeanor. That being said, there are no actual penalties prescribed for acting as a mere player gambling online. We were also able to uncover no instance of anyone facing any adverse action for acting online as a mere player.

Land Casinos In New Hampshire

Once again, there are no actual casinos in New Hampshire, but the state is home to a few poker rooms that are permitted to offer a limited number of games. Since there are no commercial or tribal casinos, we will list these card rooms.

Aces and Eights Casino Room

Located in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, Aces and Eights Casino Room describes itself on Facebook thusly:

Aces and Eights is a new poker/casino room that has opened up on the Hampton Beach Boardwalk. We have all kinds of games for you to enjoy! Including Let it ride, Boston 7, New Hampshire Hold ’em, Roulette, and Black Jack! The room also comes with food and a full bar, graciously provided to us by Wicked Willies Wicked Good Seafood! Associated with the NH Charitable Gaming Commission, proceeds from each day go to benefit various charities around the state.

Boston Billiard Club and Casino

Boston Billiard Club and Casino is located in Nashua, New Hampshire. Poker games include No Limit Hold ‘Em, Limit Hold ‘Em and Pot Limit Omaha. The casino is also home to Roulette and Craps. Pub food is served at this location, most of these places probably serve some sort of food, but this one made a point to mention its food operations on the website.

Chasers Poker Room

Chasers Poker Room is located in Salem, New Hampshire. They spread Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em, Blackjack, Roulette and Mississippi Stud. Cash poker games consist of No Limit Hold ‘Em, Limit Hold ‘Em and Pot Limit Omaha.

Concord Casino

Concord Casino is a card room located in Concord, New Hampshire. Games offered are Roulette, Blackjack, New Hampshire Hold ‘Em (?) Spanish 21 and poker. Apparently, they also offer thirty machines called, “Lucky 7,” machines, which are probably fixed return-to-player machines. My understanding is a lot of the New Hampshire gambling revenues go to charity, so maybe they’ll let the machines go.

Keene Casino

The Keene Casino is located in a town of the same name. They offer Roulette and Spanish 21. Poker games offered are No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha and New Hampshire Hold ‘Em.

Lakes Region Casino

The Lakes Region Casino is located in Belmont, New Hampshire. They describe themselves as a charitable gaming facility, so in addition to the cards, they offer lottery products and conduct bingo. They participate directly with the New Hampshire lottery to offer keno, as well. When bingo is being conducted, electronic pull tab machines are also available, which likely has to do with some vagary in charitable gaming law.

Card games offered include are cash poker and poker tournaments. As of right now, the establishment is open Wednesday-Sundays and has a restaurant that is also open on those days.

Lebanon Poker Room and Casino

Located in Lebanon, NH, the Lebanon Poker Room and Casino features Roulette and Spanish 21. Poker games are Texas Hold ‘Em and New Hampshire Hold ‘Em. Neither their website nor their Facebook page seems to offer any information about dining.

Manchester Poker Room

The Manchester Poker Room is located in a town of the same name. It offers Roulette and Spanish 21 as well as Eagle Strike, “Electronic games of skill.” Poker games include No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha and New Hampshire Hold ‘Em.

Northwoods Casino

Located in Berlin, NH, Northwoods Casino offers Roulette, Blackjack, Three-Card Poker and Packs Poker (never heard of it). Poker games include Boston 7 and Texas Hold ‘Em. There’s no restaurant, but there is a little snack stand. Aesthetically speaking, this place could be your grandma’s dining room.

Speakeasy Casino at the Governor’s Inn

The Speakeasy Casino at the Governor’s Inn probably has more words in its name than it has games going on at any given time. According to their Facebook page, they spread Texas Hold ‘Em and have food and beverages. Other table games include Boston 7 and Mississippi Stud.

The Greyhound Casino and Tavern

The Greyhound Casino and Tavern is located in Seabrook, NH.

This property has more gambling options than most, including the state’s only offtrack simulcast betting, but nothing is listed under the simulcast schedule as of the time of this writing. There is a tavern serving food and drink at the property. Apparently, they are also able to accept bets over the phone, so that’s interesting.

Table games include Blackjack, Mississippi Stud, Roulette and Spanish 21. They have poker and poker tournaments, though the website does not list all of the specific games.

The Poker Room at Hampton Falls

The Poker Room at Hampton Falls is located in a town of the same name. They spread No Limit Hold ‘Em, Limit Hold ‘Em, Omaha and Seven-Card Stud.

Lottery in New Hampshire

While New Hampshire takes a hardline stance with several forms of gambling, they have no problem using the state lottery to increase their yearly revenue. In fact, their lottery started in 1964, making them the oldest state in America to offer such an activity.

The first lottery was approved by the state legislature in 1963, the result of repeated efforts from a single politician who had campaigned for over a decade. An election was held the following year to allow citizens to abolish the lottery, but an overwhelming majority of communities supported it.

During the early days of the lottery (or “sweepstakes”), tickets were often limited to liquor stores. In addition, results were determined by the outcome of thoroughbred races as opposed to the drawing of ping-pong balls. This has changed radically over the decades, and now tickets can be purchased in a wide variety of locations with drawings utilizing state-of-the-art methods to ensure fairness.

For each dollar spent on the state lottery, 26 cents is used to fund public education. Over $5 billion in sales and additional earnings have been generated since 1964, and more than $1.7 billion has been earmarked for education.

New Hampshire conducts a lottery and is part of the multi-state Powerball and Mega Millions national jackpots. Additionally, they have the nicest lottery report that I have ever seen.

It already does the work that I have to do on listings for other states.

Here are the numbers:

Instant Scratch Games: $238,866,572 $162,587,401 $76,279,171 31.9%
Keno: 8,357,389 5,727,033 2,630,356 31.5%
Tri State Games: 25,033,219 13,429,680 11,603,539 46.4%
MUSL Games: 55,050,102 26,494,672 28,555,430 51.9%
Lucky for Life: 5,444,744 3,293,573 2,151,171 39.5%

The first number is sales, the second number prizes, the third number profit and the percentage is the cut that the lottery took on the game. Returns range from 48.1% to player to 68.5% (keno, scratchers are close at 68.1%) depending on the game being played.

Total sales were $332,782,616 while total prizes paid out were $211,533,505, which means an overall return to player of 63.57%. Players should stick to the scratchers and keno, or better yet, play nothing. Based on a population of 1.356 million, $245.41 was spent on lottery, per resident, and $89.41 lost to the lottery, per resident.

The sales numbers are higher than those of other states likely because there are few other forms of gambling available directly in the state. They should legalize slot parlors and they would make a killing.

Scratch Cards – Available at convenience stores and other licensed retailers throughout the state, these cards only require players to scratch their surface to determine whether or not they’ve won. The following are the current scratch-off cards currently available in the state:

$1 Scratch Games – Fast Cash, Shark, Red White & Blue Tripler, Match 3 Doubler, I Heart Bacon, Lucky 7, Quick 25s, Hit $50, Blackjack Bonus, Frosty Fun, Mustache Cash, Coal, High 5s, Hot Ones, Make My Day
$2 Scratch Games – 5X the Money, Lucky 8s, $20,000 Taxes Paid, Triple Win, Lucky 13, Double-Up Dollars, Whole Lotta 100s, Double Your Money, Wild Cherry Tripler, Make My Week, Betty Boop
$3 Scratch Games – Aces High, Money Puzzle, Super Joker Slingo, Spot Bingo, Money Puzzle Gold
$5 Scratch Games – Fantastic 5s, Live Free, Stacks of Cash, 10X the Money, $500 a Week for Life, Escape to Margaritaville, Diamond 9, Money Tree, Ca$hword, $100,000 No Tax, Patriots
$10 Scratch Games – Mega Fortune, Platinum Payout, Extreme Green, Double Triple, Make My Year, X, $1,000 a Week for Life, NH Limited, Caesars, Silver 7s
$20 Scratch Games – Hot/Cool Millions, $2,000 a Week for Life

Draw Games – These lottery games offer the biggest payouts available to players. Drawings are held multiple times throughout the week, and you must be at least 18 years old in order to participate. The following draw games are available in the state:

Powerball – Match 5 numbers to win a $1 million prize. Match 5 numbers and the Powerball to win a progressive jackpot worth even more.
Mega Millions – Match 5 numbers to win a $1 million jackpot. Match the 5 numbers and the Megaball to win a jackpot that can exceed $100 million.
Megabucks Plus – Match 5 numbers and win $30,000. If you match 5 numbers, as well as the Megaball, your winnings can increase to over $1 million.
Lucky for Life – The top prize is $1,000 a day for life, while 2nd prize is $25,000 a year for life.
Pick 3 & Pick 4 – Prizes on Pick 3 range from $5 to $500, while Pick 4 prizes range from $5 to $5,000.
Hot Lotto – Matching 5 balls results in a $30,000 tax-free win. Selecting the Sizzler option for an extra $1 results in a $90,000 payout. If the bonus ball is also hit, the player wins the progressive jackpot of $1 million or more.
Fast Play – These gaming options play like scratch cards without all the annoying scratching. Top prizes range from $500 to $5,000.
Gimme 5 – Drawings are held three times per week, with a top prize of $100,000 being offered.

Conclusion And Prognosis

There are certainly worse states for gambling than New Hampshire, but most of them are certainly much better, especially for slot and video poker players. If you really want to find a handful of table games, poker or keno, you will if you look hard enough. I guess that the poker rooms that spread a handful of table games are more than nothing.

Simulcast wagering has also returned to the state with The Greyhound Casino and Tavern, so I suppose we shall see how that goes. It wouldn’t be a shock to see that aspect of the operations come to an end and only the poker room remains, but you never know, especially if the phone wagering takes off.

New Hampshire is not too keen on gambling overall, so it’s likely going to be a long wait (if ever) for full on commercial casinos or legalized and regulated online gambling. Sports betting seems equally unlikely, besides, where would you have it? The Greyhound Casino and Tavern may well be the only place big enough to handle it that currently has gaming operations. It also probably wouldn’t be very profitable, sports betting operations are very volume-dependent.

Could be worse, could be better, but probably not getting better anytime soon.