Rachel O'Neal, a 29-year-old Lewis and Clark graduate who just opened her own Portland law practice, likes to unwind with a little no-limit Texas hold 'em when she has time. She's a frequent player at

, a Northwest Portland card room that caters to the tournament crowd.

"I feel safe here," O'Neal says.

But she and hundreds of other hold 'em diehards may soon be forced to look for a different game. Oregon lawmakers are considering

that would shut the Encore -- and a host of other businesses like it.

Anti-casino lawmakers say the proliferation of card rooms in the city, and elsewhere in Oregon, isn't what the state had in mind when it adopted social gaming rules in the 1980s.

"These things have exploded," says

, R-West Linn, who is among those pushing the bill, which would make such games legal only for religious, charitable and fraternal organizations, such as the Elks. "It's kind of like hookah lounges."

Parrish has a powerful ally in

k, D-Portland, who is on a bit of a crusade herself to crack down on delis and taverns that make most of their revenue from state-run video poker and slot machines. Kotek gave the bill the go-ahead, and it soon will be scheduled for a public hearing in the House Rules Committee.

About a dozen of the card rooms are

.

"Apparently, if you go into them, you would think you were in Las Vegas," Kotek says.

Not even close, says John Ogai, Encore's owner. First off, he says, players vie for a community pot, and the club -- or "house' -- takes no rake, or percentage of the money. It all goes back to the winners. Second, poker is a game of skill, unlike roulette, blackjack, slot machines and other popular Vegas games that are based almost entirely on chance.

"We're not a casino," Ogai says. "We are a small business, and we feel like we're bringing a lot of value to the city."

Some tribal casinos also offer poker tournaments and cash games, but they also specialize in slot machines, which aren't allowed in Portland's card rooms.

After opening two and a half years ago, Ogai now has 15 employees and caters to an average of 150 customers a day. Each person coming through the door pays $10. That, plus sales of food and drink, make up Ogai's revenue.

For the uninitiated, walking through Encore's front door and stepping down into the basement-like enclave of oval-shaped poker tables can be a bit intimidating. Players crouch over their cards. The clacking sound of chips being tossed mixes with muted conversations.

But, with a lot of help from ESPN's broadcasts of the

, the game has become mainstream, attracting pros who make their living at it to hobbyists like O'Neal, the lawyer.

"I love the environment," she says, getting ready to take her seat at a tournament that cost her $25 to enter. The winner might take home a few hundred bucks, with smaller cash prizes going to second- and third-place finishers. Other games offer bigger prizes for bigger buy-ins.

Some card rooms also offer "shoot-outs," which essentially are ongoing no-limit hold 'em games. Buy-ins range from less than a dollar to as much as $300.

Security takes care of cheaters and players who get unruly. Players know if they go too far in breaching well-established etiquette rules, they'll be bounced and not welcome back.

"It there weren't places like this, basically all the games would go underground," O'Neal says. "That's were you have the sleaze."

Parrish says she has heard complaints that some of the poker rooms aren't following the law -- dealers getting tipped, people being paid under the table.

"They're running some high-stakes games," Parrish says. "Oregonians have said they really don't want casinos."

Besides the dedicated card room, more than a dozen Portland-area bars and taverns offer Texas hold 'em tournaments on specific nights. Similar games can be found in Salem, Eugene and elsewhere.

Kathleen Butler, regulatory division manager for the city of Portland, says there have been some complaints about the poker clubs. As a result, she says the city is looking at updating its code, which was last changed in the mid-1980s.

A few clubs have been shut down for code violations, she says. But club owners, players and police are working together to come up with new rules. Among them could be a limit on how many times a player can "buy back" into a tournament.

"That helps a young person with a gambling problem from losing too much," Butler says.

Ogai, who first heard about the proposed law change from a reporter, said poker clubs don't have an organization much less a lobbyist. But he plans to do what he can to avoid having to shut his doors.

"Obviously it's my business on the line."

-- Harry Esteve