Explore New Hampshire's Thriving Poker Scene and Laws
New Hampshire has always been welcoming to the gambling industry.
In fact, they were the first in the US to establish a state lottery in 1964 – Puerto Rico, a US overseas territory, not a state, did host their first lottery thirty years earlier, however.
But in mainland USA, the Granite State was the lottery trailblazer. Originally, it was called “New Hampshire Sweepstakes” and the numbers weren’t picked by drawing numbered balls out of a bowl – rather, in horse races. Yes, quite peculiarly, the numbers of the winning horses in races held at Salem’s Rockingham Park were the winning lottery numbers.
In 2019, New Hampshire made a major breakthrough in another game of chance as well: they legalized land-based sports betting. In a short period of time, 10 retail sportsbooks launched their legal businesses across the state.
What’s more, to tie the two events mentioned above together, the online fantasy sports site and sportsbook DraftKings partnered with the New Hampshire Lottery to open up the first sportsbook in Manchester, NH. The NH Lottery appointed its first director of sports betting in October 2020.
However, this state isn’t only for the avid lottery players and sports bettors. The locals have quite a large selection of land-based poker rooms as well, thankfully. Wolrdcasinodirectory.com lists 8 licenced casinos with 114 running poker tables combined – that is a pretty good “spread” for a state of 1.3 million people.
Famous New Hampshirite Poker Players
Howard Lederer was born in the state capital, Concord, NH.
He cashed for over $6.5 million in live tournaments during his career, and also appeared on such classic poker TV shows as Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, and the NBC Heads-up Championship (which he won in 2007). He’s also a 2-time WSOP gold bracelet winner.
However, sadly, none of the achievements above is what most people in the poker world know him for. Rather, his involvement in the illegal money mismanagement scandal as a Full Tilt manager which got the poker room shut down for a second time after the infamous Black Friday events in 2011.
Lederer’s younger sister, Annie Duke (her maiden name is evidently Lederer) has also been a widely successful poker professional. She’s won $4.270 million in live tournaments, including one WSOP victory. She retired from professional poker in 2012. She too was involved with a poker site that went down after Black Friday – she was the spokesperson for UltimateBet.
However, neither of the siblings are listed as New Hampshire players on Hendon. Thus the state’s all time money list on the site is topped by a man named Dan Chalifour from Spofford, NH with $741,666 in career earnings. In April 2019, he came in 8th in the $3,500 No Limit Hold’em – WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown event for $88,930. That is the biggest single live tournament cash of his career to date.
Online Poker in New Hampshire
Online Poker Legislation in New Hampshire
Online poker is illegal in New Hampshire. The state has not passed any legislation to legalize or regulate online poker platforms. While New Hampshire allows other forms of gambling, such as lotteries and charitable gaming, online poker remains prohibited. There are no state-licensed platforms, and playing on offshore poker sites is also illegal under New Hampshire law. As of now, there are no significant legislative efforts to legalize online poker in the state.
Best Online Poker Sites in New Hampshire
Live Poker in New Hampshire
Live Poker Legislation in New Hampshire
Section 287-D in the New Hampshire Criminal Laws deals with games of chance. It starts by listing all the illegal ways to gamble in the state and the possible penalties for these offenses – however, in the end, in Section 287-D-31, it also gives way for exceptions.
The first and most important one is “I): Dispenser devices approved by the commission which are located at the regular meeting place of, or at a facility owned, leased, or utilized by, a charitable organization licensed under RSA 287-E:20.”
They also allow cruise ships with a casino operating on board to dock and serve patrons from the state for no more than 48 hours. On top of these exceptions, the June 2019 bill also legalized sports betting in 10 locations, as we wrote in our intro.
Licencing and regulation for gambling companies are under the purview of the New Hampshire Gaming Regulatory Oversight Authority.
Live Poker Venues in New Hampshire
The Brook Casino in Seabrook, NH has a poker room with a decently sized cash game selection. They have No Limit Hold’em on $1/$2, $2/$5, and $5/$10 stakes, as well as a mixed game table on $2/$4 stakes.
As for tournaments, they have daily NLHE events with buy-ins ranging from $30 up to $100.
In the historic city of Salem, NH the Chasers Poker Room and Casino is located. There, you can NLHE cash games on $1/$2, $2/$5, and $5/$10 stakes, Limit Hold’em on $3/$6 stakes, and PLO on $2/$2 and $5/$10 stakes. They also have a NLHE/PLO mixed game table with $2/$5 blinds. They run generous high hand promotions with which you can win up to $1,500 every hour!
If you’re in New Hampshire, you can also visit the Lebanon Poker Room in the city of Lebanon, NH, or the Filotimo Casino & DraftKings Sports Book in the city of Manchester, NH for some poker action.
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