Charitable gambling planned for Milford

Texas hold ‘em poker continues to gain popularity across the nation
through televised championship games and on the Internet, and now the
games might be coming to Milford and Brookline.

The
plan for New Hampshire Charitable Gambling (NHCG) to covert 12 out of
the 20 thousand square feet of the former Violette’s IGA grocery store
at Granite Town Plaza in Milford will go before the Milford Planning
Board on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

The proposed River Card Room would
have 25 poker tables and employ 82 people, and Jim Rafferty, president
of New Hampshire Charitable Gambling, says he can raise nearly $350,000
for charities in the first year alone.

And last week, the
Brookline Planning Board allowed Paul Andres, owner of Brookline’s Big
Bear Lodge, to expand operating hours from 11 a.m.-1 a.m., a change
that would allow Andres to lease the top floor to NHCG for the poker
games, according to a site plan application.

Charitable gambling
has been legal in New Hampshire for nearly a decade and in 2006, laws
changed so that charities can hire a professional firm to run the
games, with the New Hampshire Pari-Mutuel Commission overseeing the
process.

State law mandates that gambling organizations place a
$20,000 bond in case they are unable to meet the fundraising
requirements.

Gambling has been a hot topic in Milford since
last winter when Douglas Bianchi, a former Milford selectman and VFW
quartermaster, and VFW steward Arthur Gagnon were arrested for
allegedly operating five video poker machines at the Milford VFW that
illegally paid out winnings.

Bianchi says he doesn’t mind a
company offering gambling, but is troubled that the state allows it and
not video poker machines that pay out winnings.

“It just shows more hypocrisy,” he said.

The
Legislature is hypocritical, he said, because it says gambling will
hurt New Hampshire’s quality of life, but allows the sale of $30
scratch tickets.

Bianchi said the money from his video poker
games went to the town’s Labor Day parade and other causes, and he
doesn’t think that much money from the poker games at the IGA will
actually go to charity.

Rafferty said that is not the case.

“The
pari-mutuel (commission) is the agency responsible for overseeing the
operation to make sure it’s done right. It’s a shame what happened
earlier this year but we plan on working with local charities because
they need funding,” he said.

In June, neighbors of St.
Stanislaus Hall in Nashua quashed his plan to establish gaming in the
residential neighborhood, but Rafferty is confident that it will be
accepted in Milford.

“It’s going to be really good for Milford,” he said.

The old IGA building is owned by Herb and Cheryl Hardman of Milford.

According
to Sarah Marchant, Milford town planner, the Planning Board requires a
change of use because it will need to examine traffic and parking
issues, but she does not think this will be a problem at Granite Town
Plaza.

In contrast to poker games like stud or draw where each
player holds a separate individual hand, hold ‘em is a community card
game where each player may use any combination of the five community
cards and their own two hole cards to make a poker hand.

During
the 2007 World Series of Poker aired on ESPN a man won nearly $8
million, but don’t expect to win millions in Milford. The maximum bet
that can be placed during tournaments would be $250, according to an
NHCG preliminary presentation sent to Marchant.

Rafferty said a very skilled player could win up to $800 over several hours.

Cabinet reporter Daymond Steer contributed to this article.

Recovered from the Poker Players Alliance archive index. This is the archived item as preserved.