Casinos in Oregon
Oregon is the home to ten land-based casinos, which are all operated by the local Native American tribes. Those casinos allow Oregon residents to enjoy the best slot machines, video poker machines, and classic table games, but it is worth pointing out that the state also offers pari-mutuel horse race betting, charitable bingo, and lottery games. Despite having such a well-regulated and well-developed gambling industry, Oregon doesn’t seem to be interested in launching licensed intrastate online casino gambling and has laws that prohibit individual players from playing on offshore casino sites.
Oregon Gambling Laws
Gambling-related offenses are covered by Oregon Revised Statutes Section 161 through 167. As briefly touched on above, online gambling is an offense within the borders of the state. In fact, transferring funds to an online casino site is enough for an individual to be charged with unlawful gambling in the second degree, which is a class A misdemeanor.
On a brighter note, Oregon officials don’t really go after individual players – in fact, no online casino customers have been prosecuted so far. Consequently, many Oregon-based casino enthusiasts aren’t even aware that they are doing something illegal by registering at one of the offshore casino sites.
Online Casinos
As mentioned above, Oregon doesn’t have any regulated gambling businesses. Despite the fact that Oregon regulations explicitly prohibit placing bets via online gambling sites, many Oregon residents are playing on offshore casino sites on a regular basis. The popularity of those sites may be attributed to the amazing bonuses and promotions they offer. Simply put, international sites can afford to provide new customers with better incentives to join the action than even the most successful local operations.
Offshore Casino Sites That Accept Oregon Players
Even though Oregon is one of the few states that prohibit online gambling, most US-facing offshore casino sites still offer their services to Oregon residents. The vast majority of those sites are powered by the latest generation of Real Time Gambling software, which means that all of the available games are absolutely top notch and which guarantees customer safety. In addition, some of the best RTG sites offer games that have been designed by influential third-party developers. For example, Bovada Casino gives you a unique chance to check out most of the three-dimensional slots introduced by BetSoft gaming.
As you’d expect, Oregon-based casino enthusiasts usually have to go through some hassle in order to transfer funds to an offshore casino site due to the fact that they have very few banking methods. Most deposits are completed via a credit card payment, but it’s important to realize that this method isn’t 100% reliable and that some cards might simply be ill-suited for gambling-related transactions. Consequently, players who’d like to avoid going through several cards and trying to find the one that works usually fund their account using Western Union and MoneyGram money orders. Unfortunately, money orders tend to get rather expensive over time, as most casinos require the player to cover all the additional transaction fees.
Developing Legal Scenarios
Oregon regulations have been recently updated to prevent players from registering at offshore casino sites, so it’s very unlikely for the local lawmakers to have a sudden change of heart and push for i-gaming friendly legislation.
