Up To Speed Podcast: Poker Stars Coming To New Hampshire As Charitable Gaming Grows

By NH Journal

When the Lilac Club Casino welcomes some of poker’s biggest personalities for the $60,000 Legends of Poker Tournament on Thursday, it will be the second-biggest poker tourney the state has hosted. That’s a sign of how much charitable gaming has grown.

The tournament will benefit two local nonprofit organizations, Thriving Roots Childcare and the Seacoast Educational Endowment of Dover, a reminder of the unique way the Granite State’s gaming system works.

On this episode of Up To Speed, Eric Barbaro, chief operating officer of Granite State Gaming & Hospitality, talks about the tournament and shares the latest from the charitable gaming industry.

Here are a few highlights:

NHJournal: Many people outside the state don’t realize New Hampshire has casinos. How is charitable gaming here different from gambling in Las Vegas or Atlantic City?

Barbaro: It’s a very different model. These are not stand-alone, for-profit casinos like you would see in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. We operate charitable gaming facilities. Every day we operate, 35 cents of every dollar in gaming revenue goes to a charity. That creates an extraordinary community impact.

NHJournal: Which charities will benefit from this tournament?

Barbaro: Thriving Roots Childcare and the Seacoast Educational Endowment of Dover will benefit from charitable-gaming contributions during the tournament dates. Thriving Roots provides affordable child care for children ages 6 weeks to 6 years. Its share will help replace flooring in a pre-K classroom and purchase new playground equipment. The Seacoast Educational Endowment awards grants to Dover public school educators for continuing education, classroom resources and innovative teaching tools. Last year, we saw about $50,000 in charitable contributions generated on these gaming days.

NHJournal: Put that into perspective. If someone loses $100 at one of your casinos, does $35 of that go to the designated charity?

Barbaro: That’s right. So far this year, our Rochester property has generated about $3 million in charitable contributions, while our Seabrook property has generated just over $1 million. The community impact is real. We have a committee that vets the charities and schedules them to make the program consistent and efficient. One of my favorite parts of the job is presenting the checks and receiving letters explaining what those dollars have meant to the organizations.

NHJournal: Tell us about the poker tournament coming to Rochester.

Barbaro: We have an amazing opportunity to bring some great poker players to New Hampshire, including Phil Hellmuth and Shaun Deeb. They’ll play in our $60,000 Legends of Poker tournament on Thursday, Sept. 24, starting at 4 p.m. It’s a one-day challenge with a $600 buy-in. Seats are limited because our poker room has only 12 tables, and we anticipate somewhere between 150 and 200 players will register. It’s exciting to bring players of this caliber to Rochester, and the event draws some of the best poker players from across New England.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.