Bill would legalize poker for fundraising

"Bingo!" hasn't been the sound of money for the Knights of Columbus in Bay Shore and other charitable groups statewide for at least the last several years. The dwindling popularity of the once-reliable moneymaker has some groups pushing for legislation to legalize poker tournaments.

A bill in the State Legislature would add poker to a list of games of chance that charitable organizations can offer to raise money.

"I would love that," said John Lupo, a board member of the Bay Shore Knights of Columbus. "Texas Hold 'Em, that is the greatest charity event we can have."

Current law allows charitable organizations to be licensed to hold "Las Vegas nights" or bingo games, but poker is not legal. The bill would define poker as a game of chance, rather than a game of skill, and permit qualified organizations to hold as many as 12 poker tournaments a year. The admission price for a tournament would be capped at $100 and prizes would be limited to 50 percent of admission fees.

At a hearing in Albany last month, the New York State Conference of Private Organizations pleaded for passage of the bill. State laws require that at least 30 percent of the take from "Vegas Nights" go toward charitable purposes, except for veterans' organizations.

Bruce Hidley, vice president of the conference and former president of the New York State Elks Association, testified that it's become harder to draw people to "Vegas Nights" because of the growing number of options for gambling, such as racinos.

"Passage of the bill is essential to the survival of some of these organizations," Hidley said. "It would enhance the ability for our organizations to donate to our charitable causes by allowing us to conduct these Texas Hold 'Em tournaments as you see on TV."

Assemb. J. Gary Pretlow (D-Yonkers), who chairs the Assembly committee on racing and wagering, said he was reviewing the bill, which has been introduced in different versions since 2005. The current sponsors of the bill are Sen. John Bonacic (R-Middletown) and Assemb. Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island).

"These organizations do a fantastic job in raising monies for the various charities that they support," Pretlow said. "If this would be helpful to them, then I would be a proponent."

But Assemb. Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach) said he would probably vote against the bill if it came to the floor because he said he's seen lives hurt by gambling. "There are better ways to raise revenue," he said. "People need to raise money, let them bake cookies."

Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Ronkonkoma) said he hadn't reviewed the bill, but the Iraq War veteran said he didn't have an issue with poker being used to help Veterans of Foreign War posts.

"If some VFW wants to do poker nights and it's an annual event to raise money for VFW, I wouldn't have a problem with it," he said.

When bingo still brought in the crowds at the Bay Shore Knights of Columbus, it also brought in $600 to $800 a week. As it declined, the group's take would be at best $400 and sometimes it would break even or lose money. Anti-smoking laws finally killed the game, Lupo said.

"We gave it up," he said.

"When we had bingo, we were able to contribute to the community in any way shape or form," he said. "Now we can't do it, now we have to scrimp and scrape and [fund] raise for every thing we do -- a dance or something like that, which is not as lucrative."

The Huntington Elks lodge stopped holding "Vegas Nights" more than a decade ago, but it would welcome poker tournaments to fund its charitable work for veterans, said George May, district deputy grand exalted ruler, who oversees 10 lodges on Long Island. Societal changes have diminished the role that lodges used to play in people's lives and poker could help attract a younger generation, May said.

"It seems to be the younger people . . . this is what they're interested in, poker tournaments," he said. "If we could do this in our lodge to raise revenue for our charitable work, it would aid us tremendously."

Bingo has been losing out to poker around the country, said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

"Since poker got big in the early 2000s, a lot of folks started moving to having charity poker tournaments instead of things like bingo because they don't show bingo on ESPN," Schwartz said. "Not that bingo's not popular, but it's a much more passive game and it doesn't have the same cachet right now."

In 2001, people bet $179.5 million on charitable bingo games, netting the organizations $35.4 million in profits, according to New York State Racing & Wagering Board data. By 2010 bingo bets had fallen to $73.9 million and profits were down to $10.9 million.