[NH] PPA State Director Letter to New Hampshire Governor by pokerplayersalliance

New Hampshire legislators have passed a new tax on Texas Hold ‘Em and other poker games being run by charities.

The legislation raises the maximum bet from $2 to $4.

A 3% tax would apply in tournaments where the playing chips had no monetary value. A 10% tax would apply if the chips had a monetary value.

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excerpt:

CONCORD – Charity poker tournaments could see bigger bets but would pay a new state tax under a tentative agreement that key legislators approved Thursday.

The tax would raise at least $2.2 million a year from this popular form of gambling, which is used to generate profits for charities at sites across the state.
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House members are expected to vote on a compromise version of the Texas Hold ‘Em bill, which would levy a lower tax than first proposed.

A revised version of the bill passed the Senate late last week, and now moves on to the House.
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All across America, people are playing poker in their homes, fire halls and even community centers that also house local police headquarters. Those playing include the politicians, attorneys, law enforcement agents, and citizens from all walks of life. In many of the states, thanks to antiquated and often confusing gambling laws, these citizens are breaking the law and don’t even know it.
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Attorney Patrick Fleming isn’t a high stakes gambler.

But he’s been known to win some cash at local tournaments.

“Not anything that would make me quit my day job,” Fleming said Thursday. “At least not yet.”

Fleming was named the Poker Players Alliance New Hampshire state director on Wednesday. The PPA is a grassroots advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C.

In his newly appointed role, Fleming will be responsible for monitoring poker-related issues and events in New Hampshire, and alerting the national PPA office to emerging trends or issues as well as leading PPA activities in the state, according to a press release.

“Pretty much like everybody, I played poker as a young man,” he said. “I played with my dad as a kid and his buddies, played in college.”

But it wasn’t until the resurgence in poker several years ago that Fleming got back into playing.

Nowadays, it’s all he plays at casinos.

“If you’re going to go to a casino, why not play the only game not against the house and where skill can actually make a difference and make you a winner?” he said.

Fleming says he plays online poker three or four nights a week, visits the Seabrook Greyhound Park once every other month to play in charity poker tournaments, occasionally visits Foxwoods Resort to play and takes a yearly vacation to Las Vegas.

“Poker is extremely popular everywhere,” he said, adding that there are 5,500 PPA members in the state. “It’s America’s game and it’s regaining popularity … (My) basic duty at this point is to grow the organization.”

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