Lottery chief: Profit estimates from slots bill have gone up
Mar. 10—The state's top lottery official is raising his bet on how much revenue slot machines could raise based on the overflow crowds at the opening weekend of the latest charity casino complex.
Lottery Commission Executive Director Charles McIntyre said while the kickoff of The Nash casino at the Pheasant Lane Mall was supposed to be a "soft opening," there were lines of gamblers waiting to play the historical horse racing machines there.
McIntyre said his team would produce a revised revenue estimate for a bill legalizing slot machines later this week.
Another charity casino opened Monday night in Rochester, bringing to 3,500 the number of historical horse racing (HHR) machines in New Hampshire.
Offered in states where traditional slot machines are illegal, HHR machines are similar to the traditional slots except that they use random archived thoroughbred races to generate results.
A state-hired consultant has concluded the market could thrive with 6,000 machines across the state.
Among 10 year-round charity casinos in the state, McIntyre said the average HHR machine is generating $280 in profit each day.
"The standard in the industry is that if you are over $250 per machine, you add (to the market), if you are below that level, then you subtract," McIntyre said.
The House Ways and Means Committee took testimony Monday on the House bill (HB 728) that would give charity casino owners just under three years to convert all their HHR machines to regular slot machines.
State Sen. Timothy Lang, R-Sanbornton, has a competing bill (SB 83) the state Senate will debate Thursday which would allow the casino operators to decide when they wish to convert to slots.
McIntyre said studies have shown Nashua was the ideal location for a charity casino since it was likely to attract the most business from gamblers coming north from Middlesex and Essex counties in Massachusetts.
McIntyre said the Encore Harbor Place casino in Everett, Mass., is difficult to get to and Foxwoods in Ledyard, Connecticut, is nearly a three-hour drive away.
Last month, Gov. Kelly Ayotte attached a slot machine proposal to help finance her two-year state budget to the budget trailer bill. (See related story.)
Ayotte's plan would raise an estimated $117 million a year for the state, increasing the state's take from 25% of the gross from HHR machines to 45% of the gross from slots.
The House bill would raise the state's share to 30% while Lang's bill would retain a 25% share for the state.
McIntyre said the 25% share is the lowest of the other New England states that have casinos.
Former Rep. Patrick Abrami, R-Stratham, said casino operators currently pay 12% to 18% more in operating expenses with HRH than they would with slot machines.
That's because the nation's thoroughbred racetracks charge those leasing the machines for each randomly selected horse race, he said.
Abrami said converting to slots would also create more money to support programs that help addicted gamblers.
The lottery commission currently has to set aside $150,000 a year for such programs.
Rep. Susan Almy, D-Lebanon, agreed the state needs to do more to help those who can't control their gambling fixation.
"We are just depending on addicts to run our state and I find that extremely offensive," Almy said.
klandrigan@unionleader.com
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