New Hampshire Charitable Gaming

Charitable gaming in New Hampshire includes poker, bingo, Lucky 7, raffles, games of chance and card rooms. The only form of legal electronic bingo gaming is handheld electronic bingo cards. Bingo, originally "beano," and Lucky 7 have been legal in New Hampshire since 1949 and games of chance since 1977.

In 2006, the New Hampshire Pari-Mutuel Commission oversaw charity gambling events. Before that, local police maintained control over charitable gaming within their communities. The New Hampshire Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission is now responsible for the enforcement of applicable laws and regulations of charity games.

In 2011, HB348 was signed into law by the governor. This legislation requires primary game operators conducting games of chance to use video monitoring in all areas where money is handled, including table games and the cash office. Also, language was included to make it a felony to defraud charities of any monies legally due from charitable gaming.

In 2014, the governor signed a bill into law that created more oversight for the charitable gaming industry, which was estimated to produce $75 million in bets annually. The law requires the Attorney General's office to conduct background checks on operators and limits fees operators can charge charities. Charities are entitled to at least 35% of charitable gaming profits under the law.

Charitable groups must be registered with the New Hampshire Secretary of State and the New Hampshire Charitable Trust Division of the Attorney General's office for at least two years to run charitable gaming events.

Charitable gaming is so popular that many of the sites where the games can be offered have long waiting lists.

In July 2018, lawmakers increased the maximum bet allowed at charitable casinos from $4 to $10.