PlayNowNH will offer customers the opportunity to buy $100 worth of credit at lottery retailers. The gamblers may then take that credit and go online to pick which of the games they would like to play. The games all play out similar to scratch off tickets.

The determination of a win or a loss is made when the credit is bought. That allows New Hampshire to circumvent the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that took effect on June 1st. The UIGEA calls for financial institutions to block transactions to and from online gambling sites.

If a gambler chooses to do so, they may find out if they won on the lottery tickets when they purchase them. They do not need to go online to play the games to find out if their tickets are winners. Even with the state lottery running the online gambling, some lawmakers are miffed that this type of gambling is allowed.

“I’m sure you can say it’s no different (than scratch tickets), but we know from the research that’s been done there is nothing more addictive than being able to play games on the computer,” said House Finance Chair Marjorie Smith, as reported by The Associated Press.

Other states in the Northeast are seeking a much larger version of Internet gambling in the future. New Jersey lawmakers are considering regulating online poker. Florida and California also have legislators pushing for regulated online gambling.

The NFL has announced a ban for players, coaches and the media on the use of social networking services such as Twitter on game days over fears that they could pass on sensitive information to gamblers.

The NFL season began this week and the new ban is in effect from 90 minutes before the start of a game until after the conclusion of post-game interviews.

Guidelines on the media’s use of Twitter were also issued by the NFL and prohibit any posting of play-by-play accounts.

Minimum wagers in the new lottery will be $2, with maximum wagers capped at $3000, depending on the type of bet. For each wager, gamblers must pick the correct outcomes of at least three NFL games, called parlay bets, or as many as 12. This is in compliance with the recent court ruling, which restricts the state to parlay bets. Gamblers cannot wager on a single game bet or on sports other than the NFL, the ruling dictates.

Officials said the betting, which will be conducted only at the state’s three racetrack casinos, will use three types of preprinted parlay cards offering different types of point spreads. The spreads will include half points to ensure there are no ties.

Betting will begin Thursday before that night’s NFL regular season opener between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans. But because each wager must involve at least three games, there will be no winners or losers until results are in from the Sunday and Monday night games.

“We won’t have any winners Thursday night, but people will still be eligible going into the weekend,” said acting state finance secretary Tom Cook.

Gamblers can wager on Monday night games as part of their picks for the preceding Sunday, or can combine a Monday night bet with picks in games to be played the following weekend.