Promoter hopes to bring poker to Milford

Milford, NH - Poker players play for the pleasure of the game, not because they want to be do-gooders, says the president of a company that wants to establish a Texas hold'em poker operation in the former Violette's IGA at the Granite Town Plaza.

But if the planning board approves a change of use request made by James Rafferty, president of the New Hampshire Charitable Gambling, 35 percent of the profits from the games played in the former supermarket will go to charity.

"The charities in the state, in Nashua, want to get this going," Rafferty said on Thursday. "It's a great way to raise money, a whole new group of people, men from the region who want to play a good game of poker."

Rafferty is hoping for a second nod when he goes before the planning board on Tuesday during a public hearing where changing the designated use for the 12,000-square-foot space in the 20,000-square-foot former supermarket will be discussed.

Violette's was the last independent grocery in Milford, and has been empty since that store closed in 1995. Various plans have been put forward for the space over the years, including a bar and a bowling alley, but none have gone forward.

Rafferty said 50 employees would work at peak hours, 82 in total, and he plans to set up 25 poker tables with 10 seats at each table.

Traffic and parking issues are expected to be discussed as part of the planning board process. The gaming company president must provide one parking space for every two seats in the establishment and one space for every two employees, according to Planning Board regulations.

Not everyone in town supports the change in use.

Chuck Worcester of Hometown Insurance, a business located on the Oval, has filed a statement with the planning department opposing the request.

He said he believes the change would have an "adverse impact to the community," according to the statement.

Worcester was speaking as president of the Heritage Commission, a town group concerned with historic preservation.

The application to the town's planning board follows requests by Rafferty to set up charitable gaming in Nashua and Brookline.

In two applications to the city of Nashua, the company sought approval to set up charitable gaming in the former St. Stanislaus Hall on Pine Hill Road and in the former ArcLight store on West Pearl Street.

The city zoning board quashed the request with 2-2 vote. Rafferty said he withdrew his application after the tie vote.

Rafferty, who runs the company backed by eight investors, plans to open his first charitable gaming operation in Brookline later this year, following a vote last week by that town's planning board to allow Big Bear Lodge to lease space to Rafferty's New Hampshire Charitable Gambling.

The board also approved a request to extend the Big Bear Lodge hours to 11 a.m.-1 a.m.

Currently, bingo games are held at the lodge on Sunday afternoons to raise money for local charities.

Gambling that dedicates a percentage to charity has been legal in the state for about a decade. Last year, the law was changed to allow charities to hire a professional company to run the games, under the watch of the New Hampshire Pari-Mutuel Commission.

News Added: 17 September, 2007

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