Lawmakers Will Look At Taxing High-Stakes Poker Tournaments

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TheChamplainChannel.com – WNNE – Lawmakers Will Look At Taxing High-Stakes Poker Tournaments: “Lawmakers Will Look At Taxing High-Stakes Poker Tournaments”

CONCORD, NH — Good card players know when to hold ‘em, and when to fold ‘em, and some New Hampshire lawmakers say it may be time to tax ‘em. Charitable organizations around the state are raising money through poker tournaments, and some legislators wonder whether the state should get a share.

“I’m not particularly fond of gambling, but if the state is going to allow gambling for charitable purposes and we’re getting into high-stakes stuff, I think the state should get some revenue from it,” said Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, chairman of the House Finance Committee.

Kurk told the New Hampshire Sunday News is filing a proposal to impose some type of state tax on high-stakes poker profits. He said he is not suggesting taxing winners. He wants to look at the income promoters are getting for setting up the games.

Promoters run the tournaments for a share of the entrance fees, then pay winners and turn over a share to the charity sponsoring the event.

In the past 10 months, about 30 charities have filed applications with the Attorney General’s Office of Charitable Trusts, to hold poker tournaments in Derry, Keene, Pembroke, Laconia and a half-dozen other communities.

Promoters stage the tournaments under the state gaming law that allows a charity to sponsor up to 10 so-called Monte Carlo fund-raisers each year. The charities must report to the state the prizes awarded, expenses paid and revenue raised, but there is no state oversight of the games, which are conducted under a permit obtained from the local police.

Each player pays to sit in on the game: usually, $100. With prizes in the thousands, some games attract hundreds of players. From the states perspective, the poker tournaments are unlike bingo because the state neither regulates nor profits from the games.

“This is big money and there is no state oversight on these tournaments, or income to the state from them,” said Rep. Norman Major, R-Plaistow. “I think there will be serious discussion of this,” said Major, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.