Seabrook Expanding Their Options

Seabrook Greyhound Park on Route 107 is expanding what they have to offer other than greyhound racing. They have added charity-run games of chance such as slot machines and Texas Hold’em. The poker games pay out money prizes so everyone benefits as the charitable organizations get money from it as does the track.

There is currently a bill in the Legislature that, if approved, would eliminate greyhound racing, leaving the track without its main reason for being there. So in the meantime, the track is looking at other ways of supplementing their income. One charity just netted more than $12,000 from one of the tournaments, and that was after they paid their bills for the event – so you can see that they are definitely lucrative.

According to officials, the charity gets at least 35% of the gross slot machine or tournament revenues, and they must be a bona fide charity. The charity must have a license with the state, and it must be held for at least two years with the secretary of state and the Internal Revenue Service. Some venues make money by leasing the space, but Seabrook lets the charities that use their space do so for free.

Seabrook is one of the more successful venues for this type of charitable event, but other tracks use this as a source of revenue as well. It is estimated that this year alone, more than $100 million will be wagered statewide through these events. The state gets their cut of the event as well, but the local towns where the events are held do not get a cut of the slot machine or gambling revenue.

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