Hopes that the state of New Hampshire might be among the leaders in introducing a form of internet gambling have been dashed following a decision by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission to scrap the project.
The Commission made good progress in setting up a launch for the PlayNowNH facility, but the brakes were applied by state lawmakers suddenly anxious about the implications of leadership in the field and asking for further debate. It now appears that their efforts to derail the project have been successful.
Observers note that the politicians were also concerned that the proposal had not been presented to them during the budget debates earlier in the year.
PlayNowNH was designed to exploit the online scatch card business model, making internet participation more convenienet for state residents and raising badly needed state revenues. The games envisaged included speed bingo, super slots, baseball, and poker; none of the games would have been played in a real sense, as winners were already determined when the cards were purchased.
This week, the executive director of the Commission, Charles McIntyre, told the Associated Press news agency: “It was my belief that the game would have produced modest revenue.
“In light of our other challenges at this time, it is clear that the resources needed to introduce and sustain a product like PlayNowNH would be a poor return on investment.”
