Strictly speaking, the odds of winning
this Saturday’s no-limit Texas holdem
poker tournament at the Redhook Ale
Brewery in Portsmouth are one in 139. But
novices beware: If you think rainbows and
rivers are scenic sights along the
Appalachian Trail, your odds are much
worse. The smart money may beat you bad.
Thanks in part to television shows like
the "World Poker Tour" on the Travel
Channel, the "World Series of Poker" on
ESPN and "Celebrity Poker Showdown" on the
Bravo network, poker is in vogue. Avid
Texas holdem fans know that a rainbow
forms when three cards of different suits
turn face-up on the table, and a river is
the card that signals the start of the
final betting round.
Today’s poker event in Portsmouth is the
latest fund-raiser for the Seacoast
Repertory Theatre, a nonprofit arts
organization better known for hosting the
annual crafts fair on Bow Street. Open to
a maximum of 140 players, the poker
tournament entry fee is $125 in advance or
$150 at the door. First prize, if the
tournament fills up, is $3,750, with a
total prize pool of about $7,000.
Registration opens at 4 p.m., with the
call to "Shuffle up and deal!" coming an
hour later.
"We were searching for something that
would set us apart and also something that
would appeal to a crowd that might not be
a theater-going crowd," said Stacy Baker-Chilicki,
director of marketing and publicity for
the Seacoast Rep. "Poker is the new
canasta. It is very visible now on the
national stage, and it is popular with
young people.
"We used to do bingo, but the need just
dropped off. It wasn’t worth the staff
time or money," Baker-Chilicki added.
The number of poker players in the United
States has skyrocketed in the past year.
In the 2004 World Series of Poker, 2,576
adults paid $10,000 to play - triple the
previous year.
And the poker phenom reaches down to
under-18 teens, many of whom are playing
on the Internet for fake money, or
churning their pocket change at private,
$10-buy-in games - winner takes all. More
than one poker-bitten parent has begged to
be dealt in, while dishing out the
occasional dinner-table discussion about
addictions.
More and more of the nation’s moneyed and
powerful are playing for bigger stakes in
private games and casinos. In late June,
Barron’s - a magazine for Wall-Streeters -
touted poker as a tool for sharpening
one’s insights into "investor psychology,
good decision-making and sharp risk-reward
analysis." As Barron’s points out, both
investing and poker require an analysis of
probabilities, given incomplete
information.
Idea a $10,000 winner
Steven Scott - president of the Seacoast
Repertory Theatre board, local banker, a
knight in "Camelot" onstage (once upon a
time) and a gambler - came up with the
idea for the theater’s poker event,
thinking it would be fun for both players
and volunteers, who will serve as dealers.
Today’s tournament is the theater’s second
poker event. In April, a smaller and
less-publicized tournament raised about
$10,000.
"I absolutely love to gamble. I love
blackjack," Scott said. "I love to watch
poker on ESPN, and I can think of nothing
more fun than spending a night at a
casino."
According to Scott, the average theater-goer
is relatively affluent and about 45 to 65
years of age. Poker events attract younger
crowds who may not be aware of "Bat Boy:
The Musical," currently running on the
Seacoast Rep stage.
It’s unclear if today’s poker players will
become tomorrow’s theater aficionados. But
since the theater’s expected take from
each tournament is about $10,000, maybe it
doesn’t much matter.
In fact, there may be little crossover
between poker players and the New
Hampshire charities that sponsor no-limit
Texas holdem events. Art Phillips, owner
of Laconia-based Casino Game Rental, said
he helps stage one to four tournaments a
week in New England.
Phillips said traditional casino nights,
which include blackjack and roulette
tables, draw an older crowd, while Texas
holdem tournaments pull in the
20-somethings.
Among those sponsoring the tournaments are
youth and sports organizations, chambers
of commerce, community centers and various
fraternal groups and clubs, said Phillips.
A typical advertisement reads: "Texas
holdem Poker Tournament at Lochmere
Country Club, Tilton - The fun begins at 2
p.m. and continues until 7 p.m. at this
event to benefit the Greater Laconia/Weirs
Beach Chamber of Commerce!"
It’s all legal
Phillips explains that while most gambling
is generally illegal in New Hampshire -
the state lottery is one exception -
nonprofits can obtain a games-of-chance
license by applying through the state
attorney general and local police
departments. The license gives the
nonprofit the opportunity to hold up to 10
gaming events a year as fund-raisers.
For example, one distinctly New Hampshire
gaming event is the "Ice-Out Contest,"
whereby a charitable organization places a
marker on a frozen lake "and the person
most closely estimating the day and time
the marker falls through the ice wins half
the contest proceeds, collected by the
charitable organization," according to New
Hampshire law. They don’t have that one in
Vegas.
As for poker, Phillips said, "I don’t
think we are trying to create Las Vegas in
New Hampshire. We are just trying to raise
money for charity. Texas holdem is a
guaranteed win for the charity. It has
been much more profitable than the
traditional casino night."
Portsmouth Police Chief Mike Magnant
issued the games-of-chance license to the
Seacoast Repertory Theatre for today’s
tournament. Chief Magnant, who doesn’t
know the rules of the game, said the poker
phenomenon is new to him. He made a little
visit to last April’s tournament to get
acquainted with the poker crowd.
More and more organizations are requesting
game licenses, said Magnant. Is it
possible that in the near future poker
players could find a legal game 52
weekends a year in southern New Hampshire,
and never face the four-hour drive to
Foxwoods in the Connecticut trees again?
Is this good news for New Hampshire
nonprofits and communities?
"I need to do more research," the chief
said. "But I would be concerned that this
is basically legalized gambling."
Dover police had a similar reaction. They
are familiar with license requests for
casino nights, but poker is new on the
scene. Capt. Anthony Colarusso said, "I
don’t remember us issuing a license for a
specific poker tournament. We have issued
licenses for casino nights. They have
certainly been a legitimate way for
nonprofits to raise money."
Colarusso said police departments have
some discretionary power when it comes to
granting games-of-chance licenses, but a
denial must be justified with a specific
reason. Police departments must follow the
law, which, of course, may be open to
interpretation.
"Sometimes when there is something new,
you have to look at it, study it, see what
impact it is having, and if there is a
negative impact on the community, you may
have to address that through legislation,"
he said.
At the New Hampshire attorney general’s
office, Senior Assistant Attorney General
Will Delker said that while the lottery
and charity games are forms of legalized
gambling in New Hampshire, private
"penny-poker games" and Internet poker are
illegal.
"The law prohibits you from gambling on
the Internet," he said, although local
officials may not have the resources to
launch a poker sting.
Internet gambling involves Web sites that
are usually based outside the United
States.
Why is the state interested in this
activity, which on a penny-ante scale
seems harmless?
Delker responds: "Gambling is one of those
crimes that usually carries with it a lot
of other crimes."
"I think there is a correlation between
gambling and other crimes, and I have seen
that, at least anecdotally, on the cases I
have worked."
Poker faces
In the meantime, local poker players can
keep dreaming of royal flushes - the best
poker hand - on home turf.
Those playing in today’s tournament are
advised to make sure they don’t have a
"tell." A tell is a mannerism or physical
movement that gives away your hand.
For example, Scott, the Seacoast Rep board
president, said his mom, who likes to play
cards, "wiggles in her seat" when she gets
a great hand. Scott’s tell is even more
obvious: He smiles. Lacking a good poker
face, Scott is sticking to casino games
where bluffing is not a factor.
