“The set up is this: Though poker is officially illegal in Massachusetts, they play no-limit hold’em tournaments legally under a ‘charity raffle and bazaar’ license. This gives them the ability to have the equivalent of a Las Vegas night. But they do it on a regular basis, with different charities on different nights of the week. They’re open now Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6PM to midnight. They spread sit-and-go tournaments, and a couple of large multi-table no-limit hold’em tournaments as well. There are no cash games. All of the tourneys are no-limit hold’em. There are house dealers.
They also offer a few casino games like blackjack and roulette. But don’t even think about playing them. The rules favor the house enormously. Ties go to the dealer in blackjack, for example. The payouts in roulette are minuscule compared with a standard casino. They appeal strictly to the addicted gambler who doesn’t care about odds or winning.
But the poker is worthwhile. The house takes what appears at first to be a rather large rake. 20% of the prize pool goes to the charity/house. But upon closer examination this is actually better than average. Most charity tournaments charge a minimum of 25%. Many charge 50%. Even at Foxwoods, for the smaller tournaments the house takes 20% plus a 3% fee for the dealers. It may be that a 20% rake is unbeatable. But at least it’s no more unbeatable than the rake in other poker tournaments in and around New England.”
Poker Cares: Charity Poker News and Events 