Proposed New Hampshire Poker Tax Will Hurt Charities

In an effort to bolster diminishing state coffers, New Hampshire legislators propose to take a piece of the state's poker action by adding a 10 percent tax on Texas Hold'em tournaments, which opponents claim will hurt charities that hold tournaments for fund raising purposes.

For several years it has been legal for only nonprofit organizations in NH to raise funds through gambling events. In April 2007, a bill passed permitting NH pari-mutuel commission to license space to charitable gaming operators, ranging from bingo to Texas Hold'em poker.

Sen. Robert Odell (R-Lempster) proposed the 10 percent tax, and incumbent governor John Lynch says he supports the bill.

$5-$10 MILLION ESTIMATED FOR STATE

Supporters estimate the new tax could bring in $5 million to $10 million to the state, according to an article in the Eagle Tribune. Some of that money would hire employees for the Pari-Mutuel Commission, the state organization that oversees card games. The state currently spends around $300,000 a year investigating gambling-related concerns.

Sen. Mike Downing (R-Salem) said the tax would only hurt charities and do little to help state budget deficits, saying, "I don't think it's a good idea, taxing charitable games." He added, "There's 35 organizations or so in Salem that made over $1.3 million last year. If you're going to start taking money from them, who is going to make it up?"

In 2008, charities that rent space to hold poker games at facilities at Rockingham Park are expected to reap about $3 million, according to Ed Callahan, general manager of the horse race track in Salem.

Rockingham Park makes $2,000 a day renting 15,000 to 20,000 square feet for New Hampshire's largest poker room. It's the only cut in the profits the racetrack sees from the poker games, Callahan told the Eagle Tribune, other than the side benefit that card games bring hundreds of people to the Salem racetrack who might not otherwise come, who then might bet on horse races, play bingo or buy food.

He said 82.6 percent of the money raised from charity poker games goes into prizes. The remaining 17.4 percent goes to the charity. But the charity winds up with just 35 percent of that 17.4 percent, he said, with the rest going to the cost of putting on the game.

"The state can get the money, but then there isn't 10 cents left to buy a chair or pay for a dealer or sweep the floor," Callahan said.

He said he isn't opposed to having poker companies help pay for enforcement costs. He said when the charity bingo law was amended a couple of years ago to include poker games, it originally proposed a 1 percent tax to help with oversight. He said he would be open to a smaller fee, but 10 percent is too much.

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