PLAISTOW — Granite State Poker, the company that used to operate the Rockingham Park poker room, has opened a new facility in Plaistow.
Located in a former function hall at 180 Plaistow Road, Granite State Poker at Sawyers opened earlier this month — months after the company and The Rock settled legal disputes over the abrupt removal of Granite State Poker as the park's poker games operator.
The Plaistow room has 24 tables for poker and several other tables for roulette and other games of chance.¬ It operates five nights a week, Wednesday through Sunday.¬ Forty dealers — full and part time — are employed by the operation, which is about half the size of Rockingham Park's room, according to co-owner Dan Brown.
Brown said they hope to have the room operating seven nights a week as soon as January.¬ But before they think about expanding, they want to establish the business, he said.
"We want to get this room up and running, and be successful in Plaistow," he said.
Brown is now focused on finding local charities to sponsor the poker games.¬ The company is making the room open to be rented for corporate events, he said.
From 2006 until earlier this year, Granite State Poker operated the poker room at Rockingham Park. But on June 22, Rockingham Park President Ed Callahan sent a letter to Granite State Poker, saying as of July 26, the company would no longer be the park's charitable gaming operator.¬ A week earlier, Callahan formed Rockingham Gaming LLC, established to operate charitable games at the park after Granite State Poker was removed.
The company paid the park $2,000 per night and 50 percent of its monthly profits to operate at the park.¬ Rockingham Park officials said Granite State Poker had recently failed to pay the monthly fee.
On June 30, Granite State Poker filed a lawsuit against the park, alleging Callahan misled company officials to believe the organization would operate charitable games at the track as long as it was under his control. The lawsuit also alleges track officials began to solicit current Granite State Poker employees to work for the new company as soon as Callahan told the company to move out.
A sworn affidavit from Callahan filed in Rockingham County Superior Court stated the park made it clear that the two sides never entered into a joint venture agreement, and also said the poker operator refused to participate in an audit in May.¬
According to court documents, the two sides came to a settlement on Aug. 25, though records did not specify the details. Poker operations at The Rock are now run by Rockingham Gaming.
Brown said the racetrack that was once the home of his operation is now the competition.
"They are the competition," he said.¬ "I think competition should be very healthy."
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If you go
Granite State Poker at Sawyers is open from:
Wednesday and Thursday: 4 p.m. to midnight
Friday: 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Saturday: noon to 1 a.m.
Sunday: 1:30 p.m. to midnight
