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If you’re feeling generous during an event at a New Hampshire charity casino, you can now express more of that generosity. The state has just increased caps on wagers related to such gaming activity.
While the changes put New Hampshire equal to or ahead of other states when it comes to gambling with a charitable element, there are still responsible gambling considerations that New Hampshirites should note.
New limits for bets at charity casinos
For the unfamiliar, New Hampshire allows certain types of gambling with a charitable element. According to state law, such activity is legal as long as at least 35% of the gaming operators’ take from the events goes to a designated charity.
A new law that New Hampshire enacted this week maintains that provision. It changed the maximum dollar amounts that event participants can wager on the various games. For example, the former $10 limit on bets on games like blackjack and roulette is now $50.
Additionally, the maximum buy-in for poker tournaments is now $2,500. That represents a substantial increase from the former cap of $150. The results of these changes could include more revenue for both the game operators and the charities.
New Hampshire does not have a hard limit on how much players can win. It’s also one of the most generous states when it comes to the type of games that charitable casinos can offer.
How New Hampshire’s charity casino laws compare
Many states allow gambling of some kind with an inherent charity element. Laws on that matter can vary greatly from one state to the next. New Hampshire’s laws are more liberal in some ways but more conservative in others.
For example, nearby New York only allows charitable organizations to hold bell jar contests, bingo games, and raffles. The available options in New Hampshire are far greater, including many table games and even slots.
In North Dakota, restrictions limit bets on poker hands to a single dollar. Charitable sports pools in that state may not accept entry fees of more than $25 as well. Again, New Hampshire is more lenient.
There are some examples of ways in which New Hampshire is more stringent, though. Oregon does not impose any limits on how much participants can wager or win in most charitable gaming, with the exception that players may not lose more than $150 in a single day.
While these limits act as a cap on how much charities can collect from events featuring gambling, there are other considerations to balance the funding for charities with. Those considerations include people who may deal with a compulsive gambling issue.
For such people, the fact that the gambling has a charitable element does not make it less problematic for them. Limiting bet amounts, game types, and prize totals can deter irresponsible behavior. In that way, charitable gambling can be a net gain for communities instead of a push.
