Casino Gambling Age In Illinois
- Horseracing (1927), Lottery (1974), Bingo (1983), Casinos (1991), Video Lottery (2012)
- $1.1 billion
- $3.8 billion
- 18 for racing, lottery, and bingo. 21 for casinos and video lottery
- Illinois bans smoking in all gambling establishments
- Horseracing is the only version of online gambling legal in Illinois.
Illinois offers a wide variety of gambling. It’s racing industrƒy was the first to enter the market, dating back to the Great Depression. The Illinois Lottery was one of the first in the Midwest. There are also several high-end Illinois casinos and video lottery.
Is there any places near Chicago that has 18 as the legal age to gamble? We found a Michigan casino that was near the Indiana border, but it was 21. They very in Michigan because they are all Indian run and can make up their own rules. I was hoping the same was true for Indiana and Illinois. Illinois posts a betting age of 18 for pari-mutuel wagering and all other gaming in the state with the exception of casino gaming. Like sports betting, casino gaming requires an age of 21 at the minimum, and the state takes their underage gambling policies very seriously. Illinois legislation requires that all casino gamblers be at least 21 years old. This is strictly enforced and Illinois residents who are under-aged will be prohibited from participating in casino gambling either land-based or online if they are underaged. Illinois Casino Guide Illinois is in the process of changing the laws surrounding gambling in the state, both on and offline. While online casinos are still deemed illegal in the state, online sportsbooks have just started operating on mobile and desktop devices. Gambling in Illinois: A journey into the past. The history of gambling in Illinois goes well beyond the current questions surrounding Illinois online poker laws. In fact, gambling in Illinois dates back to well before gambling was legal. In the 1800s, Illinois saw riverboat casinos being run without permission on the waterways in the state.
Illinois’ economy and smoking ban have hurt its gaming revenue in recent years. The state passed a casino smoking ban in 2008, just before the Great Recession. This chopped 20% off its gambling revenue as smokers moved the action to border states where casinos permit smoking. Illinois was hit hard by the recession. This kept gaming revenue down for a longer period of time than other states. In 2015, the state stopped paying big lottery winners due to a budget impasse in the state legislature; this hurt ticket sales.
Illinois Casinos Map & Guide
- Harrah’s Joliet
- Harrah’s Metropolis
- Par-A-Dice Casino
- Casino Queen
- Hollywood Casino
- 9
- 9
- 0
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Types of Online Illinois Gambling Allowed
Horseracing is one form of legal online gambling in Illinois. Bettors may make advanced deposits at sites like TVG, TwinSpires, and BetAmerica. As of now, online casino gambling is not legal in Illinois.
The Illinois Lottery sells tickets over the Internet. These include Powerball, Mega Millions, Pick 3, and Pick 4. Players may purchase subscriptions for 13, 26, or 52 weeks.
In December 2015, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced that daily fantasy sports were illegal in the state. Unlike Nevada and Hawaii where sites left the market on this determination, DraftKings and FanDuel decided to challenge this decision in court. A ruling on the case is not expected until the end of 2016. DraftKings and FanDuel remain in the Illinois market pending the conclusion of the legal fight.
Types of Live Illinois Gambling
- Slots: Yes
- Blackjack: Yes
- Poker: Yes
- Craps/Roulette: Yes
- Horses: Yes
- Lottery: Yes
Horseracing is the oldest form of live gambling in Illinois. There are seven racetracks in Illinois. Racebooks are also legal in Illinois. This is where bettors can get off-track action on simulcast races.
The Illinois Lottery is one of the oldest in the country. Scratch-off tickets and lotto drawings are spread by the Illinois Lottery. Lottos include LuckyDay Lotto, Lotto Extra Shot, Powerball, and Mega Millions.
Illinois casinos opened on riverboats in 1991. All casino games were legal from the first day of gambling. Poker, slots, video poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, and table games that use cards are all legal in Illinois casinos. Riverboats are strategically located throughout the state. There is a poker room in all Illinois casinos.
Slots and video poker are spread in bars, restaurants, gas stations, and charitable organizations. The best video poker game returns 97.9%. This is below the standard of casinos in Illinois. There are about 4,500 video gaming establishments in Illinois. These businesses host about 18,000 machines.
Illinois Gambling Laws
Illinois gambling laws license and regulate numerous forms of gambling in the state. This includes pari-mutuel betting, charitable bingo, lotteries, and casino gaming. These forms of gambling are specifically exempted from state law.
It is a misdemeanor to gamble in an unlicensed establishment in Illinois as either a player or an operator. Subsequent convictions fall under a Class 4 felony.
Illinois casinos operate under the Riverboat Gambling Act, which passed in 1990. These boats were required to be on the water. They had to leave the dock for two hours for the first ten years of operation. Casinos may now be more traditional and do not have to leave the dock. This change of law occurred in 1999.
Bingo operators must be charities. A $200 per year license is required. The maximum prize per contest is $500. The maximum prize pool per day is $2,250.
Illinois makes it a gambling crime to operate a game of chance over the Internet. The only exception to this is the Illinois Lottery. The state lottery is permitted to sell lotto tickets on its website.
The minimum legal gambling age in Illinois is 21 years for casino and bar video poker patrons. Lottery and racing have a minimum gambling age of 18 years.
List of Illinois Casinos
Players may buy lottery tickets in any convenience store in the state. Video poker and slot machines are found in nearly every bar, many restaurants and gas stations, including truck stops. Hotels also spread these games. There are nearly 20,000 of these machines located throughout the state. The following table shows the current nine Illinois casinos.
Casino | Size | Address | Website |
---|---|---|---|
Argosy Casino – Alton | 1,100 Slot Machines | 1 Piasa Street | www.argosyalton.com |
Casino Queen – East St. Louis | 1,100 Slot Machines | 200 South Front Street | www.casinoqueen.com |
Grand Victoria Casino – Elgin | 1,100 Slot Machines | 250 S. Grove Ave. | www.grandvictoriacasino.com |
Harrah’s Casino – Joliet | 1,188 Slot Machines | 151 N. Joliet St. | www.caesars.com/harrahs-joliet |
Harrah’s Metropolis Casino | 1,145 Slot Machines | 100 East Front Street | https://www.caesars.com/harrahs-metropolis |
Hollywood Casino – Aurora | 1,160 Slot Machines | 49 W. Galena Blvd. | www.hollywoodcasinoaurora.com |
Jumer’s Casino – Rock Island | 1,100 Slot Machines | 777 Jumer Dr. | www.jumerscasinohotel.com |
Par-A-Dice Casino – East Peoria | 1,100 Slot Machines | 21 Blackjack Blvd. | www.paradicecasino.com |
Rivers Casino – Des Plaines | 1,050 Slot Machines | 3000 S. River Rd. | www.riverscasino.com |
Illinois Racetracks
- Arlington Park – Arlington Heights
- Balmoral Park – Crete
- Duquoin State Fair – Duquoin
- Fairmount Park – Collinsville
- Hawthorne Race Course and Suburban Downs – Stickney
- Maywood Park – Melrose Park
History of Illinois Gambling
Horse racing began in Illinois in the 1830s, while casino riverboats first appeared in the 1840s. The Civil War put an end to most of this unregulated gambling.
A revival of horse racing convinced the state to regulate the industry in 1927. It was the first form of explicitly legal gambling in the state. Illinois launched a state lottery in 1974. The Riverboat Casino Act created Illinois casinos in 1990. Ten licenses were approved. All must be on the water and none in Cook County, home to Chicago. This was done to protect the city’s horse racing industry.
Riverboat casinos were forced to go into the water every two hours. This was repealed in 1999.
Bar video poker and slots were approved in 2012. This was not extended to racetracks in the state. The horse racing industry continues to push for its share of the video gaming industry in Illinois.
Illinois was the first state to ban smoking in casinos in 2008. Gaming revenue dropped 20% nearly instantly. The state blamed the loss of gaming revenue on the economy. The St. Louis Federal Reservepublished a report that determined that was not the case. Illinois gamblers were going to neighboring states where smoking is still permitted in casinos. This includes Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Most Illinois casinos are located on the state line, making it easy for gamblers to just drive across the river for a smoker friendly casino.
The Illinois Lottery stopped paying winners of $25,000 or more in 2015 due to a budget impasse. The dropped to $600 late in 2015. This caused lottery sales to suffer as players drove to bordering states to buy jackpot tickets out of fear of never getting paid.
Illinois Casinos & Gambling FAQ
Is there horse racing in Illinois?
Are there casinos in Chicago?
No. State law does not permit casinos in Cook County.
The state wanted to protect the horseracing industry. Indiana licensed a casino in Gary to attract some of this action.
Yes, but they do not have to leave the dock.
The Illinois Attorney General declared daily fantasy sports illegal in December 2015. Major sites like DraftKings and FanDuel refused to leave the state upon this declaration and instead filed suit for a declaratory judgment.
Yes. All Illinois casinos have a poker room.
There are nine casinos in Illinois. MGM Springfield plans to open in 2017 to become the tenth.
The minimum Illinois gambling age is 21 for casinos and video lottery, and 18 for racing, lottery, and bingo.
Illinois is in the process of changing the laws surrounding gambling in the state, both on and offline.
While online casinos are still deemed illegal in the state, online sportsbooks have just started operating on mobile and desktop devices. If online sports betting does well for the state'seconomy, there is huge potential to expand online gambling in IL.
There are different ways you can gamble in the state offline, including racetracks and river casino boats.
The new bill that was introduced in 2019 permitted land-based casinos to start operating in specific areas in IL, however, none have been able to open their doors just yet. This is due to thedelay caused by the Illinois Gaming Board who has yet to give a response to the riverboats that have applied for the license.
The vetting process has now taken a year, with the IGB expected to make a decision in the next few weeks. There are currently nine casino applicants.
Read more about the gambling laws in IL, the current status of land-based casinos, and when you can expect to be playing at an IL online casino, in our guide below.
Illinois Online Casinos
Although Illinois has a long tradition with some great riverboat casinos and a long history with gambling, it has not legalized online casinos just yet. There have been discussions oflegalizing online casinos, but it has not yet been approved by the senate.
A bill that was introduced in 2019 did legalize online sports betting and saw FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetRivers launch online sportsbooks in the state. It also allowed riverboat casinosto start applying for licenses to operate on land. But we'll get into that later.
For now, if you want to play at an online casino, you'll need to take a trip up to nearby Michigan.
But, you can still register with a legal online casino while you're in Illinois. That means you can get the casino's bonus offers or deposit, and then play whenever you're in stateswhere it's legal.
Land-Based Casinos in Illinois
Unlike Mississippi casinos, not all of the casinos in Illinois are open 24 hours, and Illinois casino laws limit the number of gaming licenses to 10. Up until2019, all casinos in IL had to operate as a riverboat casino.
Now, riverboat casinos are in the process of purchasing licenses to be able to operate on land.
There are five casinos in Illinois near Chicago, two casinos towards the center of the state, and three casinos in southern Illinois.
See our Chicago casinos section for more details on the five properties, as well as details on some casinos in Indiana that are within a short drive of Chicago.
All casinos in Illinois are non-smoking and, unless otherwise noted, all offer slots, video poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, and three-card poker.
Casino Gambling Age In Illinois State
Some Illinois casinos also offer: let it ride, baccarat, mini-baccarat, poker, Ultimate Texas hold 'em, Caribbean stud poker, Mississippi stud, pai gow poker, and four card poker.
The payback percentages on electronic gaming machines at all Illinois casinos are released as a matter of public record. Just click here to see a list of slot machine payback statistics for all Illinois casinos.
New Casino In Illinois
Types of Casinos in Illinois
There are two types of casino in IL; riverboats and pari-mutuel. While riverboat casinos are in the middle of a lengthy process trying to obtain a license to operate as a land-basedcasino, pari-mutuel betting has started to fade into the background.
There have been proposals on bringing slot games into the racetracks, however, have continuously been turned down.
Riverboat Casinos
All of the casinos in Illinois are riverboat casinos. Illinois was the second state to legalize riverboat gambling and the boats began operating in September 1991 with the launching of thefirst boat: the Alton Belle.
Seven of the riverboat casinos in Illinois are either on boats or on docked barges. These Illinois casinos remain dockside and do not cruise. The other three casinos: Rivers in DesPlaines, Jumer's in Rock Island, and the Casino Queen in East. St. Louis, are all land-based casinos.
Interestingly, however, they all qualify as being riverboat casinos because they are all built over a shallow pit filled with a few inches of water.
Pari-mutuel Casinos
Horse racing has been extremely popular in IL, especially in the 1930s to 80s. Unfortunately, the industry doesn't have nearly as close to as big of a turnout at the tracks today.
Still, there are three major horse tracks in Illinois:
- Fairmount Park - Collinsville
- Arlington Park - Arlington Heights
- Hawthorne Race Course - Cicero
All three tracks offer thoroughbred racing and stream every race to viewers across the United States.
Dog racing is illegal in the state of Illinois.
List of Land-Based Casinos in Illinois
Ameristar East Chicago
- 777 Aldis Ave, East Chicago, IN 46312
- 1 (219) 378-3000
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Caribbean Stud Poker, Spanish 21, Baccarat, Mini-Baccarat, Pai Gow Poker, Three Card Poker, Let It Ride, Mississippi Stud, Poker
Argosy Casino Alton
- 1 Piasa St, Alton, IL 62002
- 1 (618) 474-7500
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three-Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold 'em
Blue Chip Casino & Hotel
- 777 Blue Chip Dr, Michigan City, IN 46360
- 1 (219) 879-7711
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Caribbean Stud Poker, Three Card Poker, Mississippi Stud, Ultimate Texas Hold 'em, Poker
Casino Queen
- 200 S Front St, East St Louis, IL 62201
- 1 (618) 874-5000
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em
Grand Victoria Casino Elgin
- 250 S Grove Ave, Elgin, IL 60120
- 1 (847) 468-7000
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Poker, Three-Card Poker, Mini-Baccarat, Poker
Harrah's Joliet
- 151 N Joliet St, Joliet, IL 60432
- 1 (815) 740-7800
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three Card Poker, Mini-Baccarat, Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, Mississippi Stud, Poker
Harrah's Metropolis
- 100 E Front St, Metropolis, IL 62960
- 1 (618) 524-2628
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three-Card Poker, Mini-Baccarat, Let It Ride, Mississippi Stud
Hollywood Casino Aurora
- 1 W New York St, Aurora, IL 60506
- 1 (630) 801-7000
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three-Card Poker, Mini-Baccarat, Mississippi Stud, Poker
Hollywood Casino Joliet
- 777 Hollywood Blvd, Joliet, IL 60436
- 1 (815) 744-9400
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Poker, Three-Card Poker, Mini-Baccarat, Mississippi Stud
Horseshoe Casino Hammond
- 777 Casino Center Dr, Hammond, IN 46320
- 1 (219) 473-7000
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Caribbean Stud Poker, Mini-Baccarat, Three Card Poker, Let it Ride, Poker, Big Six Wheel, Pai Gow, Baccarat, Mississippis Stud
Jumer's Casino & Hotel
- 777 Jumer Dr, Rock Island, IL 61201, United States
- 1 (309) 756-4600
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three-Card Poker, Mississippi Stud, Poker
Majestic Star Casino & Hotel
- 1 Buffington Harbor Dr, Gary, IN 46406
- 1 (219) 977-7777
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Caribbean Stud Poker, Spanish 21, Baccarat, Mini-Baccarat, Big 6 Wheel, Pai Gow Poker, Three Card Poker, Let It Ride, Poker,Mississippi Stud
Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino
- 21 Blackjack Blvd, East Peoria, IL 61611
- 1 (309) 698-7711
- Games Offered: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Mini-Baccarat, Caribbean Stud Poker, Three-Card Poker, Let It Ride, Mississippi Stud, Poker, Big Six Wheel
Rivers Casino - Des Plaines
- 3000 S River Rd, Des Plaines, IL 60018
- 1 (847) 795-0777
- Games: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Mini-Baccarat, Baccarat, Caribbean Stud Poker, Three Card Poker, Pai Gow Poker, Spanish 21, Texas Hold'em Bonus, Mississippi Stud
