Off the Bad Beaten Poker Path: Tales from the Road
I’m a simple poker playing wanderlust with a career that has me traveling 25 + times a year. Often My
favorite activity on the road is using my Poker Atlas app to find a game in my transient vicinity. Sure,
I’ve played in plenty of main stream corporate casinos, but often times I have found the smaller rooms
can offer the most one-of-a-kind poker playing experience on the road. Obscure room names and lower
table counts are my jumping off point. And the stories to follow are the coolest poker rooms I’ve
discovered while road trippin’ across North America.
Northwood Casino
Berlin, New Hampshire
https://www.northwoodscasinollc.com
This time it was downhill mountain bike event in Northern Vermont that had me up in the
region of the US known as the “Northeast Kingdom”. With an evening to explore my new surroundings I
double clicked my Poker Atlas app to see what the area had to offer. Under the “tournaments” heading I
discovered a game just across the state line at the Northwoods Casino in the city of Berlin, New
Hampshire. Unique name. Table count on Poker Atlas: 4. This definitely sounded like my kinda place.
Northwoods Casino would be this week’s discovery on the road.
It’s always interesting to lay eyes on a new card room for the first time, and I will keenly note
that Northwoods Casino offered one of the most unique exteriors I’ve ever seen housing a poker room.
Nestled within the community confines was the Northwoods Casino. As I followed my GPS’s instructions
to park, I had to recheck the address to assure I had the correct location. Surely something was afoul.
I’m looking to play cards yet I’m parked outside what is clearly a church building, and a majestically old
one at that. I began to wonder if there was some type of message being sublimely sent, a sign from a
higher power above that I needed to further “tighten up” my poker game?
Fortunately, there was no hidden message being delivered on this day. The modestly sized
“Northwoods Casino” sign on the bulding’s edifice caught my eye, further confirming I was walking into
the right place. And while the exterior gave insight to this building’s initial purpose, the interior told an
even more grand story, one paying homage to the history and ornate beauty of this fantastic card room.
Entering the threshold of the facility, I found the interior of the casino area was of a
complimentary appearance to its exterior. It was beyond amazing with its exquisite ceiling mural and
décor throughout. While most of the religious ornamentation and symbolism was removed and
distributed among the church’s leadership and parishioners during the decommissioning, there was still
an abundance of artwork and historical photographs filling the walls and telling the visual tale of the
building’s lifetime.
Gazing upward in complete fascination, the ceiling itself was painted with exquisite and
masterful artistic precision that has sustained for over a dozen decades. Brilliant stained-glass windows fill the expanses allowing daylight to filter into the room. And possibly the most unique visual of all could
been seen from anywhere in the room: the enormous brass flutes of the grand pipe organ an instrument
that still functions after more than 100 years of service.
While the perimeter of the room paid respects to the building’s principal intentions, the floor of
the room certainly met the expectations of what I was seeking: It was a genuine casino floor, complete
with gaming tables hosting blackjack, roulette and table poker variations among others. There was an
area to get a hot bite to eat and a full bar available. And to my delight, there was a designated poker
area with several tables ready for the night’s poker tournament. But the whole scene seemed
completely surreal. It was a though the pews were simply picked up and removed and the casino space
sublimely filled the void.
I was intensely intrigued on how this place came to be, and I lobbed my first inquiry openly to
the other players assembled at my table. “Hey guys, does this place still function a church? Will there be
services here on Sunday?” There were a few wry smiles sent my way, and one guy who even looked like
that was the stupidest question he’d heard that week, if not this year. With my Northwoods rookie
status now clearly established, I looked to connect with a staff member during our first tournament
break to find out more about how this place came to be.
First built in 1899, this community cornerstone had found itself facing a tremendously uncertain
future several years ago. “There used to be five Churches in this city,” cited Ryan Lavertu, manager of
this family run business. “Then our community started to slowly lose them. The buildings were taken
over and often demolished. After the church lost this building, the city plan was to level it and build a
parking lot. But we were able to come up with a better plan that allowed the building to continue to
exist.”
His father, Robin Lavertu, was a fifth-generation resident of this city of 10,000 people and had
already established roots for the Northwoods Casino, occupying space in the downtown commercial
area.At the
same time, the church had been decommissioned and was awaiting tear down
when a local non-profit organization intervened and had the church
redesignated for use as an Arts and Cultural Center. After four years
functioning independently, the center was looking for a more anchored
tenant that could help sustain their possession of the building itself. An
agreement was then struck where the casino leases space from the St.
Kieran Community Center for the Arts, a strong relationship that is
ready to celebrate six years of partnership, and the casino area is recognized in New Hampshire as a “charitable gaming” facility, with a portion of theirproceeds being distributed to over 300 charities, philanthropies and non-profits throughout NewHampshire. This family run business has around a dozen employees and is open Wednesday though Sundays and has enjoyed its current confines for the past five years.
For the poker players, they have a $1-2 cash game available and various types of tournaments
ranging from nightly events, bounties, monthly championships and even a year end title event. “Poker is
definitely a big part of our overall operations,” Ryan went on to note. “While it isn’t were our revenue
generation is the greatest, it’s a great way to introduce people to our casino. People come in a see all we
have to offer, will join us for a meal and try some of our other games. It creates enthusiasm for our
casino.”
While the earnings for the house might not be at the top of the list, the general positive spirit
provided by the poker players is of a great value to the Lavertu family. “Our nightly tournaments usually
draw around 20 people, sometimes drawing twice that number. We love seeing people coming and joining us again and again, having a great time.” The nightly tournaments then serve as “feeder events”
for the monthly championship tournaments, where only event winners are qualified to participate.
And
the final step is the year end championship, where the monthly winners
are invited to play a final tournament, a battle for the right to call
themselves the overall champion of the year, complete
with a ceremonial championship belt theirs to keep.
In an industry cluttered with corporate structure and oversight, it was genuinely refreshing to
experience an honest-to-goodness family run casino where an enjoyable player experience was clearly
held as a priority. “We would like to consider our place more like a recreation hall or bowling alley,
where people can casually visit and have a good time,” said Lavertu. “Play any number of our games.
Have some food, maybe a drink. And enjoy the other people who are there as well.”
There is plenty to enjoy at the Northwoods Casino. The play is strong and the room is unlike any
place you’ll experience while playing some Texas hold ‘em anywhere throughout North America. And if
you’re lucky, just maybe you’ll be there with Ryan’s mom slides onto the bench seat of the organ,
pumps the petals and fills the hall with organ music like it has for more than a century.
By Jeff Barton
Edited By Nerdthusiast Poker Podcast Host Anthony @Eatahoagie Cicali
For more poker content check out the Nerdthusiast Poker Podcast at
Posts
Comments
Post a Comment