Critical decision on New Hampshire online gambling bill this week

New Hampshire state Rep. Eric Schleien’s attempt to legalise and regulate intrastate online gambling, HB 562, reaches a critical decision point today (Wednesday) when an executive session will decide whether the measure should pass, be amended, be referred back to committee for more work, or simply languish and run out of time this session.

The bill, which is a mere placeholder and has yet to be filled with relevant content, has had an up-and-down run in the House this year; it was shelved in January, and resurrected in August, only to remain bogged down in committee until its further resurrection this (October) month.

Observers are not optimistic on the bill’s chances due to its lack of real content and a recent scandal around its proposer.

They point out that even assuming it is progressed today, there remains a great deal of work to be done on content, making it unlikely that there will be any direct industry impact this year.

There has been speculation that time and effort could be saved by simply opting for a regulatory and licensing model similar to that used in Delaware, where the state lottery has successfully supervised online gambling.

Related and similar