Finding a game of poker in southern New Hampshire just got a little easier as two commercial poker halls prepare to open in the coming months.

Jim Rafferty, president of New Hampshire Charitable Gaming, received permission from the Milford Planning Board Tuesday night to convert a vacant storefront in the Granite Town Plaza into a poker hall.

Rafferty, who is a licensed primary game operator through the New Hampshire Pari-Mutuel Commission, according to commission spokesman Paul Kelley, plans to convert the former Violette’s IGA grocery store into a charitable gaming facility called the River Card Room.

Kelley said that Rafferty has undergone a thorough background check and review, including a 13-page application that delves into every conceivable aspect of the applicant’s personal and financial life.

“We’re trying to keep scoundrels out of New Hampshire,” Kelley said.

Under the state’s gambling laws, poker and bingo halls can be licensed as long as at least 35 percent of the take goes to charity and a representative of the charity is present throughout the game night. Each charity is entitled to 10 gaming days each year. In order to keep the cards shuffling at a place like the proposed River Card Room, the organizer must line up a series of charities that will accept the proceeds from the card games.

The River Card Room, according to planner Sarah Marchant of the Milford Community Development department, would have 25 10-seat tables for Texas Hold’em poker games, and would offer light food, beer and wine.

The planning board approved a change of use permit to convert the space, which has been vacant for more than a decade, into the poker facility. Rafferty still must receive approval for the facility from the Pari-Mutuel Commission, and must seek approval for a liquor license from the state liquor commission.

Meanwhile, Rafferty has already received permission to establish regular Texas Hold’em poker games at the Big Bear Lodge in Brookline. Big Bear Lodge owner Paul Andre was given approval from the Brookline Planning Board to start cutting the cards earlier this month.

Charitable gambling isn’t new to Big Bear Lodge, where regular bingo games have been held for years, but Police Chief Thomas Goulden said he has some concerns about the move toward poker.

“You have a different clientele with poker than you do with bingo,” Goulden said.

With poker, it’s more likely that people, especially those in their late teens and early 20s will be sitting down to games with adults who are consuming alcohol, and Goulden said that underage drinking is a concern.

The chief said he’s also wary of the sheer numbers of people who may turn out for poker nights at the Big Bear, and told the planning board that he’d like to monitor parking and traffic issues at the facility on Route 13.

“There are things I want to watch,” he said, “and it may turn out that police details will be needed.”

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