Ocean Gaming casino located in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire plans to expand this winter. The charitable gaming room will implement more games, including electronic historic horse betting.
The retail betting establishment started as a second-floor casino offering common table games like roulette, blackjack, and craps. It also features Lucky 7 lottery tickets.
Now, the venue will bring in the slot-style form of wagering on past horse races and bingo games.
The appeal of electronic games for Ocean Gaming and New Hampshire
The most exciting part about this is that the historic horse betting machines will be a retail form of sports betting.
Rick Newman, a gaming lobbyist in NH, noted that this will be the first electronic game you can bet on within a casino in the state.
Sports betting in NH was made legal in July 2019 and launched online only through the DraftKings Sportsbook app at the beginning of 2020. Additional forms of online gambling allowed in NH include iLottery and daily fantasy sports
New Hampshire Legislature approved the use of the historic horse betting machines in June. Charitable gaming rooms throughout the state offer them.
For those who have never heard of historic horse racing, you aren’t alone. While playing on what appears to be a regular slot machine, bettors put action down on old racing footage.
Certain information is hidden from the players so no one can easily foresee the outcome.
Part of the motive for lawmakers was to try to keep bettors inside state borders. An expanded casino with electronic options could keep local patrons from traveling elsewhere.
According to Seacoastonline, Newman said:
“That was what really drove us to ask the legislature to allow historic horse racing, so that we would have an electronic game to offer.”
Understandably, retaining business and revenue within state borders is appealing for state lawmakers and citizens.
Charitable gaming supports the community
Many may not know much about charitable gaming and what that means exactly.
New Hampshire state law requires betting establishments to operate as charitable gaming locations. This means that these location must give up 35% of overall revenue to a local charity.
In its 10 years since opening, owner Anthony Fusco said that Ocean Gaming is responsible for $4.2 million in contributions.
Those like the American Legion Post 35 in Hampton used these funds for things like scholarships for children at schools around the region.
Fusco explained how he takes pride in the fact that some of the money stays within the state for good purpose. He said:
“When I first started this, it was a business decision. As I started working with the charities, it’s more than that.”
Ocean Gaming added another space on the ground floor three years ago and are now expanding that space downstairs.
There will be a casino cage where visitors can cash out their winnings from vouchers and chips. In addition, this is where the newly added bingo games will be.
Fusco hopes to have his remodeled casino ready by February, pending permit approvals and construction.
This announcement should make residents happy, as NH betting outlets are mostly limited.
