LA GRANDE — La Grande’s new social gaming site is up and running.

Jacob Brown, owner of La Grande Poker Room, 211 Fir St., opened the business on Friday, Feb. 4. The poker room is aiming to focus on the social gaming aspect of gambling, while providing another entertainment option in La Grande.

“The feedback has been super positive,” Brown said. “It’s something that La Grande can use, another form of something fun to do.”

Brown, who is from La Grande, purchased the space in October and renovated it to hold three full-size poker tables. La Grande Poker Room can host up to 27 total players at one time, nine per table. According to Brown, the plan is to host weekly tournaments and nightly cash games. The business will primarily host poker games, but cribbage and other games could be a possibility if players choose.

The business owner was inspired to open the poker room during his time going to school out of the area, when he took up social gaming as a hobby. The absence of a social gaming spot in Union County motivated Brown to open the location in La Grande after seeing what was offered in Medford.

“Medford has four social clubs, so I would go down and play and whatnot,” Brown said. “That’s kind of how I found out about social clubs.”

The closest social gaming sites to La Grande currently are in Ontario and at Wildhorse Resort and Casino in Pendleton. When he began pursuing opening the business, Brown said he received interest from Baker and Wallowa counties.

“I thought it would be a good idea to open one here in La Grande,” Brown said.

La Grande Poker Room will offer $1-$2 cash games on a nightly basis, and tournaments will be scheduled based on local interest.

“We’re going to adjust it to what people want,” Brown said. “Right now, I’m hoping that we can do a tournament every week.”

The journey to open the business’ doors included jumping through the necessary hoops, including renovating the space and qualifying for required permits.

Since acquiring the building in October, Brown added new carpeting and opened up the main playing area. He also removed a stage that was there and added a back room where the stage used to be.

“Pretty much everything in here is brand-new,” Brown said.

The business owner had to appear in front of the La Grande City Council twice in the buildup to La Grande Poker Room’s opening. At a regular session last September, the council approved updating the city’s social games bet limit to allow for no-limit poker.

Brown explained that the city previously enforced a $5 bet limit, which does not reflect trends in the poker community.

“When they made the rule in 1992, poker then was more synonymous with limit poker,” Brown said. “Since 2003, poker is typically no-limit.”

Brown then received a gaming permit at the February city council session, in which La Grande Police Chief Gary Bell informed the council of permit requirements in years to come. The council has the authority to approve the opening permit, while the city’s police chief controls that authority in the future.

Councilors David Glabe and Gary Lillard voiced concern over granting the gaming permit during the recent meeting, stating they did not support the promotion of gambling in La Grande.

Brown explained that he sees La Grande Poker Room as a social gaming and entertainment venue, as opposed to a typical gambling site.

“We’re not a machine. I can go put my $100 in a machine and it doesn’t care. Here, you have to go through the dealer and we know what’s going on,” Brown said. “There is definitely more of an atmospheric feel to it. It’s more hanging out than like a pure slot machine or something like that.”

Brown also stated at the council meeting that several of La Grande Poker Room’s dealers have a background in addiction recovery and know what behaviors to look out for.

The business owner will appear in front of the city council one more time, looking to receive an alcohol license. As of right now, the social gaming site has a cooler for soft drinks.

After having a packed house for the opening tournament on Feb. 6, Brown is hopeful La Grande Poker Room will become a popular entertainment venue in the city.

“I think it’s something that’s going to be a lot of fun in the La Grande community,” Brown said. “We’re going to do our best to make it a fun atmosphere, and we hope to see people down here.”