Oregon has authorized several forms of gambling activities. I have gathered information on these activities during several visits to the state, including participation in a faculty seminar, “Oregon Games: Don’t Leave It to Chance”, at the School of Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University, on 14 November 1997.
In 1984 the voters approved a lottery by a margin of 66% to 34%. The lottery started operations in 1985. The lottery was conducted with traditional lottery games at first. In 1989 the lottery was then modified to include betting on sports events through parlay cards, and it was later modified for making wagers at video lottery terminals. The state of Oregon is one of only four states that is permitted to have sports betting. All bets are made on parlay cards, which require the player to pick winners of at least four games. Point spreads are indicated on the cards for football and basketball games. The winnings are paid on a pari-mutuel basis. Proceeds from the sports betting are dedicated to university athletic programs.
The state has also permitted card games with financial prizes to be played among players in bars, restaurants, and fraternal clubs (the various establishments may not be participants in the game) and bingo games to be conducted by charitable organizations. Oregon also has had horseracing with pari-mutuel betting for several decades.
These gaming authorizations provided the legal foundation for Native American tribes in Oregon to negotiate agreements with the state so that they could offer casino-type games. The authority for Native American gaming is granted in accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. Seven tribes started casinos with machine gaming and bingo in their facilities. Agreements were amended to allow blackjack games. The casinos are operated by the Grande Ronde Indian Community (Grande Ronde), Umatilla Indian Reservation (Pendleton), Warm Springs Reservation (Warm Springs), Klamath Tribes (Chiloquin), Coquille Indian Tribe (North Bend), Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians (Canyonville) and Siletz Indians (Lincoln City).
Two of the tribes have negotiated agreements that permit them to offer all games that are authorized by the Nevada Gaming Control Board for Nevada commercial casinos. These are the Grand Ronde and the Cow Creek. In exchange for this privilege to have all games, the tribal organizations agreed to provide a community assistance fund equal to 6% of the gaming revenues for local areas. The other tribes are positioned to negotiate for such agreements if they wish to do so. All the tribes pay the state fees to cover the costs of regulating the games.
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