Sweepstakes casinos in New Hampshire

PRIMARY-SOURCE NOTE

New Hampshire's sweepstakes definition stops at machines in operator-linked venues

What the law does

RSA 647:2 makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly and unlawfully gamble, to permit gambling in a place under one's control, or to possess a gambling machine, and a class B felony to promote gambling on such a machine¹. Gambling means staking something of value on a future contingent event outside one's control, on the understanding that something of value comes back on a certain outcome¹. Paragraph II(h) first describes a sweepstakes broadly, as any promotion entered with or without payment where chance decides the prize, and then narrows the chapter to sweepstakes played on a gambling machine that the operator, an affiliate or a contractor furnishes in an establishment tied to the operator¹. A gambling machine, under paragraph II(e), is a device that can play sweepstakes or games of chance and pays out money or something exchangeable for it, or shows a symbol that entitles the player to such a prize¹.

What has happened since

The source note on the official text now ends with a 2026 amendment, chapter 322, section 2, effective July 15, 2026, and the current paragraph V(f) exempts the conduct of a sports book, or participation in sports wagering, authorized under RSA 287-I¹. On the legislative side, SB 168 of 2025 proposed to regulate online gambling; the Senate Ways and Means Committee reported it ought to pass with an amendment on March 6, 2025, by a 3-2 vote, the Senate laid it on the table that same day, and on October 31, 2025 it was marked inexpedient to legislate under Senate Rule 3-23². Our event history for New Hampshire holds no entry, and we hold no exit record for any operator here. We record 0 operators as not accepting New Hampshire players.

What is still open

The record leaves one reading unsettled: can a player's own phone or browser count as a gambling machine furnished by the operator in an establishment the operator controls, affiliates with or contracts with, as paragraph II(h) requires¹? A second question sits in paragraph II(d), which already treats a sweepstakes entry obtained with a purchase as something of value when the purchase would not be worth making without the entry¹. Whether a purchased Gold Coin package that comes with Sweeps Coins fits that clause is not answered in the text, and our event history holds no court or agency reading of either point for New Hampshire.

Enforcement search

Our tracked event history for New Hampshire holds no enforcement action against an online sweepstakes operator under the state's gambling section, and no record of the injunction route that section gives the attorney general, county attorneys and local police chiefs being used against one.

Question still open

Whether a sweepstakes played on a player's own device, with no operator terminal in any venue, can fall inside a definition written around machines the operator furnishes in an establishment it controls, affiliates with or contracts with.

Sources for this note

1. New Hampshire RSA 647:2, Gambling (New Hampshire General Court) accessed Sep 28, 2026
2. SB 168 (2025), regulating online gambling: bill status and docket (New Hampshire General Court) accessed Sep 28, 2026

Sources rechecked 2026-09-28. Next scheduled review 2026-12-27.