Gambling in Oregon relates to the laws, regulations, and authorized forms of gambling.

Authorized forms

Race tracks

Trackside view of Portland Meadows grandstand and outdoor eating area

Portland Meadows Portland Meadows was an American horse racing venue in Portland, Oregon, owned by The Stronach Group since July 3, 2011 and previously owned by Magna Entertainment Corp., MI Developments Inc. (MID) 2001. Built by William P. Kyne, who also built ...

, opened in 1946, formerly offered a full season of

Quarter Horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less; some have been clocked at s ...

and

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racing.

Off-track betting Off-track betting (or OTB; in British English, off-course betting) is sanctioned gambling on horse racing outside a race track. U.S. history Before the 1970s, only the state of Nevada allowed off-track betting. Off-track betting in New York was ...

, operated under the Portland Meadows license, was available at 11 sites throughout the state. The track's closure was announced in March 2019, following the conclusion of the 2018-19 racing season, with the property slated for redevelopment. The last day for simulcast racing was December 7, 2019 and the poker room closed December 15, 2019. Demolition began in February 2020. Grants Pass Downs subsequently secured a 3-year commercial racing license for a track in

Grants Pass Grants Pass is the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, along the Rogue River. The population was 39,189 at the 2020 census. History Early Hudson's Bay Company hunt ...

beginning with the 2020-21 racing season, including the rights for off-track betting and to simulcast races held elsewhere. Horse racing is also held on the "Oregon summer fair circuit", consisting of several weekends at Grants Pass Downs in Grants Pass, plus 3- and 4-day meets in

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

Prineville Prineville is a city in and the seat of Crook County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the first merchant located in the present location, Barney Prine. The population was 9,253 at the 2010 census. History Prineville was founded in 187 ...

Tillamook Tillamook may refer to: Places: * Tillamook County, Oregon, United States * Tillamook, Oregon, a city, the seat of Tillamook County * Tillamook River, United States * Tillamook Bay, a bay in the northwestern part of Oregon * Tillamook Head, a natu ...

, and

Burns Burns may refer to: * Burn, an injury (plural) People: * Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters Business: * Burns London, a British guitar maker Places: ;In the United States * Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle ...

. Races were a part of the

Oregon State Fair The Oregon State Fair is the official state fair of the U.S. state of Oregon. It takes place every August–September at the Oregon State Fairgrounds located in north Salem, the state capital, as it has almost every year since 1862. In 2006, res ...

through the 2000 season, after which they were discontinued due to low revenue and a deteriorating grandstand.

Greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

was held from 1933 to 2004, first at

Multnomah Stadium Multnomah may refer to: *The Multnomah people, a Chinookan people who lived in the area of modern Portland, Oregon, United States **''Multnomah'', the middle Chinookan dialect of the Multnomah people ;Places, vessels, and institutions whose name ...

and later at

Multnomah Greyhound Park Multnomah Greyhound Park is a former dog track located in Wood Village, Oregon, part of the Portland metropolitan area. The park opened in 1957 and closed in 2004. After standing empty and disused for almost 12 years, the buildings at the site we ...

, until the latter was closed due to the sport's declining popularity. In 1997, Oregon was one of the first states to authorize betting "hubs" that accept wagers electronically from out-of-state bettors on horse and dog races nationwide. As of 2011, there were 10 hubs operating in the state, including TVG and

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...

's twinspires.

Charitable gaming

In 1971, the state legalized "casino nights" with blackjack, roulette, and craps, when organized by a nonprofit organization for fundraising, and played for non-cash prizes. The act was dubbed the "Happy Canyon" law, in reference to a fundraiser traditionally held at the

Pendleton Round-Up The Pendleton Round-Up is a major annual rodeo in the northwestern United States, at Pendleton in northeastern Oregon. Held at the Pendleton Round-Up Stadium during the second full week of September each year since 1910, the rodeo brings roug ...

. A constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1976 allowed bingo and raffles. Texas Hold 'Em was authorized for charitable fundraisers in 2005.

Social gaming

Cities and counties may choose to allow social gaming to be conducted in businesses and private clubs, where the house does not take a cut or profit from the game. The state first authorized social gaming in 1973. By 1995, 44 localities had passed ordinances enabling social gaming, and some coastal towns were attracting thriving weekend crowds to their blackjack tables. An investigation by the Lottery Commission that year found that regulations were laxly enforced, with many dealers being paid for their services. Portland passed a social gaming ordinance in 1984, but it was not until around 2007 that licensed poker clubs began sprouting up around the city. The clubs make money by charging a cover fee, and selling food and drinks. Underground poker clubs have thrived as well, due to their higher profitability.

Lottery

The Oregon Lottery was enabled by an amendment to the Oregon Constitution approved by 66% of voters in the 1984 general election. A statutory measure passed in the same election, and by about the same margin, providing for a state lottery. Prior to the measures, Oregonians were believed to be spending "a bundle" on the state lottery of neighboring Washington. The lottery commenced operations the following year, initially offering two types of games:

scratchcard A scratchcard (also called a scratch off, scratch ticket, scratcher, scratchum, scratch-it, scratch game, scratch-and-win, instant game, instant lottery, scratchie, lot scrots, or scritchies) is a card designed for competitions, often made of ...

tickets and a jackpot game called Megabucks. In 1989, the lottery added Sports Action, in which players bet on NFL football games. Players would choose between 4 and 14 games in a given week, and had to pick the correct team, based on a

point spread Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome, such as fixed-odds (or money-line) betting or parimutuel betting. ...

, in every game. Congress later banned sports betting under the

Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (), also known as PASPA or the Bradley Act, was a law, judicially-overturned in 2018, that was meant to define the legal status of sports betting throughout the United States. This act ...

, but a grandfather clause allowed Oregon to continue the game. The state legislature ended Sports Action after the 2006-07 NFL season, as a condition of being allowed to host games in the

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

. An illegal industry of

video poker Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a slot machine. History Video poker first became commercially viable when it became economical to combine a television-like moni ...

arose in bars and restaurants, with as many as 6,000 machines taking annual wagers of $100 million by 1989. Use of the machines for amusement purposes was legal, but illegal payouts by operators were common. To capture some of that revenue, the legislature in 1989 authorized

video lottery terminals A video lottery terminal (VLT), also sometimes known as a video gaming terminal (VGT), video slots, or the video lottery, is a type of electronic gambling machine. They are typically operated by a region's lottery, and situated at licensed establi ...

to be installed in bars and taverns, with a maximum of five devices per location. The plan was abandoned, however, due to opposition from county governments, which cited enforcement difficulties with the existing grey-market machines. Only after the state banned private machines in 1991 did the Lottery move forward, turning on the first video poker games in March 1992. Line games, similar to slot machines, were added to the terminals in 2005. By 2011, over 12,000 terminals were deployed, earning $721 million in revenue (after prizes were subtracted).

Indian gaming

In the 1980s, the ''

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...

'' and ''

Cabazon Cabazon (Spanish: ''Cabazón'') is a unincorporated community in Riverside County, California, United States. Cabazon is on the Pacific Crest Trail. In the 21st century, the area has become a tourist stop, due to the Morongo Casino, Resort & S ...

'' decisions affirmed the rights of Native American tribes to run gambling operations. The 1988 federal

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (, ''et seq.'') is a 1988 United States federal law that establishes the jurisdictional framework that governs Indian gaming. There was no federal gaming structure before this act. The stated purposes of the act ...

codified the right of tribes to offer Class III gaming (casino games, lotteries) within the state, if the state permitted such type of gaming. Between Oregon's lottery and charitable and social gaming laws, this meant that the state's nine federally recognized tribes could potentially run almost any kind of game. The tribes were reluctant, though, citing fears of battles with state officials, cultural opposition to gambling, and for some tribes, remoteness from population centers. By 1991, the only tribal gaming consisted of bingo halls run by the Coquille and

Siletz The Siletz (pronounced SIGH-lets) were the southernmost of several divisions of the Tillamook people speaking a distinct dialect; the other dialect-divisions were: ''Salmon River'' on the river of that name, ''Nestucca'' on Little and Nestucca Ri ...

tribes. The Cow Creek band was the first tribe to successfully negotiate a compact with the state to allow casino-style gaming, adding video poker and blackjack to its bingo hall in 1993. Another early proposal was made by the Siletz tribes, but their plan for a casino in the Salem area was killed by opposition from Governor

Barbara Roberts Barbara Kay Roberts (née Hughey; born December 21, 1936) is an American politician from the state of Oregon. A native of the state, she served as the List of Governors of Oregon, 34th Governor of Oregon from 1991 to 1995. She was the first List ...

. By 1996, all nine tribes had compacts completed or in negotiations, and six tribal casinos were open. In 2009, Oregon's nine casinos reported total net revenue of $574 million. Tribes have made several proposals to build off-reservation casinos in or near the lucrative Portland market, to no effect. The Warm Springs tribes, since 1999, have proposed a casino to be built in

Cascade Locks Cascade Locks is a city in Hood River County, Oregon, United States. The city took its name from a set of locks built to improve navigation past the Cascades Rapids of the Columbia River. The U.S. federal government approved the plan for the l ...

in the

Columbia River Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the sta ...

. The Grand Ronde offered in 2003 to build a stadium to help the city attract a Major League Baseball team, in exchange for the right to open a casino in the area. Later, they offered to build an 800-room hotel, with a casino, at the

Oregon Convention Center The Oregon Convention Center is a convention center in Portland, Oregon. Completed in 1989 and opened in 1990, it is located on the east side of the Willamette River in the Lloyd District neighborhood. It is best known for the twin spire towers, ...

. Both plans were rejected by Governor

Ted Kulongoski Theodore Ralph Kulongoski ( ; born November 5, 1940) is an American politician, judge, and lawyer who served as the 36th Governor of Oregon from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative As ...

. In 2005, the Grand Ronde considered buying Portland Meadows and converting it into a

racino A racino is a combined race track and casino. In some cases, the gambling is limited to slot machines, but many locations are beginning to include table games such as blackjack, poker, and roulette. In 2003, Joe Bob Briggs described the econo ...

. The

Klamath Tribes The Klamath Tribes, formerly the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon, are a federally recognized Native American Nation consisting of three Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited Southern Oregon and Northern California in the United St ...

applied in 2006 to build a casino on the

French Prairie French Prairie is located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, in the Willamette Valley between the Willamette River and the Pudding River, north of Salem. It was named for some of the earliest settlers of that part of the Oregon Country, Fr ...

, but later withdrew the proposal.

List of casinos

Commercial casino proposals

In 1972, John Haviland, owner of the Paramount Theatre in Portland, proposed converting it into a state-operated casino. In 1978, a group proposed legalizing casinos on the

Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...

, which it said would stimulate jobs in the economically depressed area, while providing money for schools statewide. The 1984 ballot initiative that authorized the lottery inserted the following language into the

Oregon Constitution The Oregon Constitution is the governing document of the U.S. state of Oregon, originally enacted in 1857. As amended the current state constitution contains eighteen sections, beginning with a bill of rights.

: "The Legislative Assembly has no power to authorize and shall prohibit casinos from operation." This has provided a foundation for some debate as to what, precisely, constitutes a "casino." A measure passed in the 1995 legislature would have allowed Portland racetracks to install up to 75 video poker machines each; then-Attorney General

ruled that the law violated the constitutional prohibition on casinos, prompting Governor

John Kitzhaber John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American former politician who served as the 35th governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003, and as the 37th governor of Oregon from 2011 until his resignation in 2015. A member of the Democratic Party ...

to veto the bill. Since 2005, two businessmen from

Lake Oswego Lake Oswego () is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Located about south of Portland and surrounding the Oswego Lake, the town w ...

have proposed a casino to be built at the defunct

. A ballot measure to authorize the plan was defeated in 2010 with 68 percent of voters opposed. The developers attempted another measure on the 2012 ballot, failing yet again with 71% opposed.

Addiction services

Investing more than $6 million annually to reduce and prevent the negative effects of gambling, Oregon's Problem Gambling Services attempts to "minimize gambling's negative impacts while recognizing the reality of gambling's availability, cultural acceptance, and economic appeal". Treatment services are available at no cost to Oregon residents with problems related to gambling, either as a problem gambler or as a friend or family member of one. According to the

Oregon Department of Human Services The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) is the principal human services agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. ODHS helps Oregonians achieve wellbeing and independence through opportunities that protect, empower, respect ch ...

, "services are delivered through 29 outpatient

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

s across the state, short-term crisis-respite centers in

and St. Helens, a

residential treatment center A residential treatment center (RTC), sometimes called a rehab, is a live-in health care facility providing therapy for substance use disorders, mental illness, or other behavioral problems. Residential treatment may be considered the "last-ditch ...

in Salem, and a home-study program for people with less severe problems". In 1997, Spirit Mountain Casino led all casinos in the state in contributions to the newly established Oregon Gambling Addiction Treatment Foundation, with a contribution of $50,000. Leaders cited a desire to be "responsible actors" in the realm of gambling. ( The Oregon State Lottery contributed $20,000.)

References

External links

Oregon State Police- Gaming DivisionOregon Tribal Gaming Alliance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gambling In Oregon

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Economy of Oregon