New Hampshire has joined the growing ranks of US states that are set to consider legalized online gambling in 2025. Four Republican state senators have signed on to sponsor Senate Bill 168, which would legalize iGaming services to be offered to people aged 18 and up who are physically present in the state.
The age-18 minimum is New Hampshire’s distinct wrinkle among state-level regulatory efforts… at least so far. All other US states that have already legalized iGaming or are considering it this year have opted for an age-21 floor, which has in general provided for better optics in the battle against gambling foes. The initial age-18 minimum could even be used as a trading point in negotiations over the bill.
It’s not the first time New Hampshire has considered casino-style gaming legislation. One of this year’s SB 168’s primary sponsors, Timothy Lang, offered similar legislation two years ago, and that effort received Senate approval before faltering in the state’s House. Lang is joined this time around with State Senators Daniel Innis, Howard Pearl, and Keith Murphy as primary sponsors.
Bill already assigned to first committee
New Hampshire’s latest iGaming measure has already been sent to its first Senate committee stop, the Ways and Means Committee, which Lang chairs and where Murphy is the vice chairman. This likely means a quick passing vote by the committee and perhaps approval by the state’s Senate at large in relatively short order.
Given the extra two years, in which New Hampshire has handled other gambling matters, neighboring states have paid more attention to casino-style iGaming. Among the US states known to be considering iGaming in 2025, New Hampshire is among the favorites for a bill such as SB 168 to become law.
Though small by population, New Hampshire has already played an important role in the expansion of online gambling in the US, when its state-run lottery operation was willing to do battle with the federal Department of Justice over the previously perceived reach of the 1960’s-era Wire Act, the federal law that banned online sportsbetting and many other forms of iGaming, including online poker and, potentially, online lottery sales.
New Hampshire and New Jersey, where the legal action focused more on the sportsbetting aspect, emerged victorious in their challenges, and now a majority of US states have legal sportsbetting and/or online lottery sales.
New Hampshire did have to weather a poker-related scandal involving a state-level politician who retired to run a poker room in the state’s capital, Concord, but with more distance between that affair (which is technically still ongoing) and the state’s iGaming interests, 2025 represents the best chance yet for the state to join the ranks of legalized US online poker states.