Sisters goes ‘all in’ on new social gaming ordinance
(Update with new gaming ordinance getting council approval)
For more than three decades, social gaming has been illegal in Sisters. The only problem is, no one apparently knew it. A weekly poker night at an iconic Sisters business uncovered the outdated rules and helped to pen new ones.
“I’m sure poker has been played here for probably close to 100 years,” Aaron Okura, owner and operator of Sisters Saloon and Ranch Grill, said Wednesday. “It’s a 105-year-old hotel, saloon and who knows what else back in the day.”
Over the winter, the saloon hosted a poker night, considered social gaming because the house (in this case the saloon) didn’t take a cut.
Some people in town questioned the legality of the game night. Interim City Manager Rick Allen found a 70-year-old ordinance allowing social gaming. But there was one problem.
“Something happened back when the Oregon Lottery came about that wiped out all the old ordinances,” Allen said, “and required cities to adopt new ordinances that met some of the new rules the Legislature established.”
That was in the 1980s, and the city discussed, but never adopted, a new ordinance.
“Fast-forward 30 years, and the town has doubled (or) tripled in population — and no one remembered that that had even happened, and we had no rule or law on the books,” Allen said.
Since the city never adopted another ordinance, social gaming has technically been banned in town for more than 30 years.
“People just ignored it and played for years,” Okura said.
Since Okura showed his hand, a new ordinance is in the works.
“I just wanted to allow the community to play the game that they look forward to and make sure that we’re doing it completely legally,” he said.
You’ll be allowed in on the action soon. The City Council unanimously approved the new ordinance at Wednesday night’s council meeting.
Any business will be able to apply for a yearly $100 social gaming permit. Okura said Sisters Saloon will start hosting weekly poker again in about a month.
