Hmm, no sooner do I fuss about British Columbia starting its own casino than New Hampshire wants to do the same. The granite state has decided that the way out of debt is to run its own online casino. Unfortunately, New Hampshire forgot to tell itself it was going to do this. The state seems to be playing a legislative game of “ask your mom” no “ask your dad.” The result being that somehow the New Hampshire Lottery decided to launch a new online casino, which would make it one of the first state organizations in the United States to do so. But state legislators have complained that the lottery folks never told them that they were going to start up a casino. So, those complaints (not complaints from people within the state) have pushed back the launch date from July to August. Really? That’s a delay?
Anyway, lottery revenue has been falling off in the state, possibly because people have realized odds in a state lottery are pretty darn awful. So, the lottery folks have decided to launch a casino, though no news on whether the odds there will be just as awful. But either way, Casino New Hampshire will only be available to residents of the state. (No, I don’t think they’re actually calling it that, but they should.)
Oh, there’s no word on what the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) will do about a state running a online casino when the federal government has declared all forms of online gambling illegal. Speculation is that they will ignore the casino. Which means other states may follow suit. Which means states are becoming more an expert on gambling that gamblers are. But the states are smart in the sense that if they create their own gambling monopoly within their area, they don’t have to compete for players by offering good odds. Look, can’t we leave running the casinos up to the casinos and let the states just regulate them to make sure they pay out when they should?