CONCORD, N.H. — Gambling proponents in New Hampshire are betting the tanking economy and hundreds of millions in estimated state budget shortfalls will finally give them the odds they need to bring video slot machines to Seabrook's Yankee Greyhound Park and other tracks in the state.

At a press conference yesterday at the N.H. State House in Concord, pro-gambling advocates announced the formation of the Fix It Now New Hampshire Coalition made up of business and union officials who support expanding limited gambling in the state.

According to information on the group's Web site, expanding limited gambling would include licensing video slot machines in the state's four current gambling venues, Rockingham Park, the former Thoroughbred race track in Salem, and the greyhound race tracks in Seabrook, Belmont and Hinsdale. It would not include table games, such as cards and dice, which would signal a move to full-fledged casino gambling.

The coalition promises if state officials OK slot machines at state race tracks, more jobs and state revenues would come without installing sales and income taxes.

Much of the current gambling effort focuses on Rockingham Park in Salem. Success could clear the way for tracks like Seabrook's, where the live racing schedule has been cut back in recent years, but simulcast wagering and charity poker games have kept the track in business.

Millennium Gaming Inc., which runs three casinos in Nevada, is prepared to spend $450 million to put video lottery machines at Rockingham Park, supporters said yesterday.

Millennium, which has an option to buy Rockingham Park, could have video lottery machines running in temporary space at the track within seven months of getting approval and then take two years to build a new, permanent facility.

Depending on how it's taxed, the Rockingham venture would mean $200 million a year for the state, the coalition said yesterday. Supporters said whether the state limited expanded gambling to Rockingham Park or allowed it elsewhere would depend on legislators.

Last year, officials with Seabrook Greyhound Park said slot machines could be critical to the track's survival.

Gambling advocates are pressing hard this year because of the state's grim financial outlook. Like other states, even after a hiring freeze and spending cuts, New Hampshire faces a shortfall of $75 million to $90 million in this year's budget because of the weak economy.

Plus, as demand for social services rises due to the depressed economy, given shrinking state revenue projections, it appears the state will be about $400 million short in its coming budget. This session, legislators must fund and pass the next two-year state budget.

In a press statement issued by the coalition, Chuck Rolecek, coalition chairman and president of the Premier Companies, said his concern as a businessman is the "rush of some in Concord" to fix the state's fiscal crisis by creating new taxes, resurrecting old ones, or introducing a broad-based tax to fix the shortfall.

"If the state is looking to new revenue to address this budget challenge, it cannot afford to jeopardize our true economic advantage and our regional economic security by implementing a state or income tax," Rolecek said in the press release.

Gambling critics, like former Sen. Jim Rubens of the Coalition Against Expanded Gambling, were quick to respond yesterday.

"The predatory gambling industry thinks that our Legislature is ready to trade our state's reputation, healthy quality of life and lowest national crime rate for a gambling tax that will make everyone in our state poorer, and a handful of casino and slot machine owners much richer," Rubens said.

Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester, gambling's reliable advocate in the N.H. Senate, was not available for comment yesterday.

State Rep. David Hess, deputy House Republican leader, said he couldn't predict whether lawmakers would vote as they have in the past to reject video lottery. He accused the industry of using the "bleakest of times to advance the idea."

Gov. John Lynch has repeatedly said he would not support expanded gambling without proof it would not harm the state's quality of life.

Edward Callahan, the track's president and general manager, predicted Rockingham's border location would attract 4 million visitors — 70 percent from other states — to gamble and spend money in New Hampshire. He said New Hampshire residents make 1 million trips to other states annually to gamble.

Callahan said New Hampshire would make money even if a casino proposed by an Indian tribe in Massachusetts opens.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.