New Hampshire Online Gambling Evades UIGEA
From July 1 the New Hampshire Lottery will launch online casino operations initially with four gambling games. These are scratch cards like games that go by the names Super Slots, Speed Bingo, Baseball and New Hampshire Poker. The state lottery commissioner, Paul Holloway said, “These are instant games that allow people to buy their ticket, and instead of scratching it they play it on the Internet. They just don’t have to stand in the store and scratch it anymore.” The online casino will be powered by software from the Greek Internet gaming company Intralot.
Players who want to wager at these games do not have to make deposits at the online casino in the usual way. The New Hampshire Lottery has adopted a method that bypasses the payment processing which is banned under the UIGEA. Physical tickets will be sold through the lottery and these tickets can be used to pay for the games at the online casino. Because the state does not accept online payments it is believed that the provisions of the UIGEA would not apply. The player personally has to buy a paper ticket. The ticket has coded information that offers him credit at the gambling site. Hence the use of credit cards or third party processors is completely avoided.
The reason that the state of New Hampshire has ventured into the online casino arena is the falling revenues from the lottery business. The revenue is 10% below expectations at a level of $68 million instead of the forecast level of $75 million. Governor John Lynch has set new targets of at least $100 million annually. He expects the online casino to fill in the deficit.
