‘It doesn’t hurt anybody’: Will Portsmouth voters approve Keno gambling in 2021? – Seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH To continue filtering thousands of dollars worth of grants, scholarships and Little League team sponsorships out into the local community, the local Elks Lodge is looking for another source of revenue for its vast charitable causes.

What better way to do so,Elks Lodge exalted ruler Michael Griffin said, than for the city's voters to approve Keno gambling in the Nov. 2 election.

Returning to the municipal election ballot this fall will be the question of whether to allow city bars, restaurants and taverns to offer Keno 603, a popular New Hampshire Lottery electronic bingo game Portsmouth voters rejected two years ago. Players can wager $1 to $25 per game, according to rules on New Hampshire Lottery's Keno 603 webpage.

Those funds go directly into the state education fund and its distributed accordingly, Griffin said. I think it's a form of entertainment, the game itself is an electronic game of bingo.

In July 2017, Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law Senate Bill 191, which established Keno as a revenue source for the funding of full-day kindergarten in New Hampshire. On Dec. 15, 2017, the gambling game took effect in New Hampshire, and its now played in approximately 220 locations in the Granite State that offer it to patrons.

City voters soundly rejected the game in the 2019 municipal election, by a vote of 2,966 to 2,456.

Four years after its origination, state lottery officials say Portsmouth is one of 26 Granite State municipalities where voters have rejected the popular game of chance, a list that also includes Exeter, Greenland, Hampton Falls and Stratham.

On the flip side, voters in about 80 New Hampshire communities have approved Keno. This started with localelections in 2017, when seven Granite State localitiesvoted in favor of Keno. Locations include Rochester and Somersworth, as well asBerlin, Claremont, Nashua,Manchester and others.

Some opponents ofgambling cite the negative impact on people who lose money they don't have to lose.

Charlie McIntyre, the executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery, said in a prepared statement Keno 603 sales exceed $1 million every week.

Almost immediately following Keno 603s inception in December 2017, we began hearing from establishment owners about how the game provides a boost to restaurants and taverns and that chorus of support has only grown over the past four years, he said. Keno 603 provides establishments with another way to engage both existing customers and new ones. As more cities and towns approve Keno603, more establishments will be able to feature the game, which ultimately helps us to drive more revenue in support of education in New Hampshire.

Former PortsmouthFire Commission chairman George Remick, a member of both the Elks and the American Legion, said that a Portsmouth coalition of sorts has formed between some residents and businesses pushing for Keno 603 to be approved.

More: Portsmouth mayor, councilors signal support for Keno ballot vote

Keno 603 yard signs have been distributed by Remick to interested voters in Portsmouthand businesses in the city, including the Clipper Tavern.

It doesnt hurt anybody or anything, it's strictly a game for them to play and theyre doing it all over the state. Keno has been around forever and theres never really been any problem with it, he said.

In fiscal year 2021, Keno 603 brought in more than $47.7 million in sales, a 65% hike from the games FY 2020 revenue, according to New Hampshire Lottery spokesperson Maura McCann.

Last fiscal year, McCann said Keno 603 awarded nearly $33.3 millionto game winners. As of Tuesday afternoon, game sales had reached $13.5 million-plusthus far in FY 22 and collective prize money given to winners stood at $9.1 million-plus.

Thirteen weeks into the fiscal year, McCann said that current Keno 603 sales are outpacing last years sales total by about 35%.

More than $4 million in sales commissions (has been) paid to restaurants and taverns that offer the game, she said of this years Keno 603 revenue. Officially, that's 8 cents for every dollar sold.

A breakdown provided on the state lottery website notes 63% of revenue is allocated to prize payouts, 25% is for New Hampshire public education and the remaining 12% is split between retailer commissions, administrative expenses and other sales costs.

McCann said Keno 603's net profit for the state is 26%, though it's entirely "earmarked" for public education. In its 57-year existence, the state lottery as a whole has contributed over $2 billion to New Hampshire public education.

The University of New Hampshire Survey Center administered a survey in 2018 on behalf of the state lottery commission to determine the success of Keno 603 in the time since it had been implemented by state businesses the year prior.

Close to half of business operators who began offering Keno 603 responded that their food and beverage revenue jumped in the months since they began selling the game, and over half of those respondents estimated that food and beverage revenue had jumped between 1% and 10% in that time.

In all, the schools Survey Center had nearly 75% of respondents state that Keno 603 brought new customers into their establishments and increased the overall volume of their clientele.

Its a revenue-maker all around, Remick said.

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'It doesn't hurt anybody': Will Portsmouth voters approve Keno gambling in 2021? - Seacoastonline.com