Charity gambling
Charity gambling

Hampton Beach, a seafront town in the US state of New Hampshire, will soon be getting charitable gambling.

Last week, the Hampton Beach Zoning Board of Adjustment approved plans to allow charitable gambling to be set up in a building that was once Guido Murphy’s night club. Now poker tournaments, roulette tables, and even blackjack games are on the way, perhaps even as soon as April 2011.

“What we plan to do is act on behalf of charities as their gaming operator for the purposes promoting revenues for bona fide charities in the state of New Hampshire,” says Giovanni Anzalone, a New Jersey lawyer who is fronting the operation.

“We are here because we love the potential of the location. We think there is a great crowd during the summer and we hope to extend that into the winter months.”

The casino games center needed special approval from the Zoning Board because the area of Hampton Beach where the center will be set up is not zoned for charity gambling. An exception has been made.

All games will be regulated by the New Hampshire Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission, so all games will count as legal gambling in the United States. Food and alcohol will be served, and the maximum bet will be $4, with 35 percent of all proceeds goes to charities. Legally, a single charity can only participate for 10 days with the gambling house, so they will need to partner with 36 charities to stay open all year long.

Many locals are speaking out against the plans, insisting that gambling will destroy the “family friendly” atmosphere of Hampton Beach, but the wheels are already in motion.