• Is Online Gambling Legal In Illinois
• Is Online Horse Betting Legal In Illinois
• Is Online Gambling Legal In Illinois
• Is Online Sports Gambling Legal In Illinois
• Is Online Gambling Legal In Illinois

• Most popular forms of regulated gambling are permitted under Illinois law. In addition to the state lottery and the multiple casinos spread across the state, there is also legal pari-mutuel wagering in Illinois and a wide slate of charitable gambling formats.
• On the surface, it might appear that this law outright bans wagering online. Most feel that these laws are for anyone thinking about operating an online gambling site in the state. Many are also looking at how this applies to the state’s sports betting industry, considering Illinois lawmakers officially legalized online sports betting recently.
• As far as online gambling in online casinos IL legislation, it is a bit more complicated. It is still illegal to own or operate a website that gives players the ability to play a game of chance or skill for money. Or, that allows them to place a wager on the outcome of an event.

Illinois bettors can register for online sportsbooks without signing up in person — at least for another month. Pritzker once again extended his executive order permitting remote signups, meaning eligible bettors in Illinois can deposit and wager from any of the state’s five live online sportsbooks without completing registration in person at their respective brick-and-mortar.

Is Online Gambling Legal In Illinois

Home to the “Windy City” and an eternal favorite of gamblers, Illinois is the base for a multitude of successful online and live tournament poker professionals. Poker seems to be in the state’s blood; President Obama often recalls his late-night games of poker played during his time at the Illinois Statehouse. In the live poker scene, locals have a wide variety of upcoming tournaments in poker clubs and riverboat casinos they can enter. Illinois has a more complicated relationship with real cash online poker.

In our guide to online poker in Illinois, we’ll explain and analyze the current gambling laws in Illinois, while discussing the poker sites which accept players from the state. We’ll discuss the odds that Illinois lawmakers regulate the Internet poker industry. This review of Illinois online poker laws will analyze whether existing gaming interests in the state support or oppose such laws.

Illinois Online Poker Guide

If you want to play online poker in IL, we suggest that you choose a room from our list below. The poker sites in this list have been chosen because they accept Illinois players, are regulated and – most importantly – have the softest games of all available Illinois online poker rooms. Here are the top legal Illinois online poker rooms:

Is Online Poker Legal in Illinois?

Illinois is a state that does face some restrictions when it comes to playing poker online. Some sites that take players from other states don’t accept new players from Illinois. Read Poker Atlas for the latest updates on live poker events at local card clubs and the riverboat casino scene. As for online poker in Illinois, we have you covered.

Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about finding the right site that will allow you to sign up from Illinois; our list of real poker sites in Illinois on this page is comprised exclusively of rooms that take players from Illinois, saving your time for the online poker tables.

Latest Updates Through 2020

Actions in the Illinois legislature in 2017 gave many legal online poker supporters hope that lawmakers were beginning to see the positives of legalizing and regulating online gaming. There was a bill that would’ve done just that for online poker and casino games, which passed the full Senate by a 42-10 vote in May, but the House bill never made it through committee as hearings were cancelled at the last minute.

However, online poker remained on the table going into 2018. State Representative Michael Zalewski’s H.479 was still being pushed, and he was confident that the right mix of gambling expansion projects would be appealing to a majority of lawmakers.

The tide began to turn not long after the United States Supreme Court overturned PASPA, which allowed New Jersey and all other states to address sports betting as they chose. Supporters of online gambling revised SB.7 to add daily fantasy sports and sports betting to the bill, but it happened late in the session and too close to its closing date of May 31.

Senate Bill 7 became a bipartisan bill, with several Republican and Democratic sponsors: Senators Terry Link, Dave Syverson, Mattie Hunter, and Donne Trotter; and Representatives Robert Rita, Rita Mayfield, Chad Hays, and Litesa Wallace. The proposal included articles for the “Fantasy Sports Act,” “Internet Gaming Act,” and “Sports Wagering Act.” Importantly, though, the bill lacked details about tax rates, licensing, and the regulatory framework.

One of those sponsors, Rita, then took an opportunity in the summer of 2018 to announce two hearings to discuss gambling expansion for Illinois. The first was held on August 22 in Chicago, and it was more than four hours of debate featuring members of joint committees. The main topics were new land-based casinos and expanded numbers of video gaming terminals.

The second hearing in early October was held in Springfield and focused heavily on sports betting. Horse racing takes precedence in Illinois and it became clear that there were many issues to be worked out before a solid bill could be drafted and presented to legalize sports betting, but it will be a priority for many lawmakers in 2019. This may mean that SB.0007 could be discarded and rewritten, and it is unclear whether online poker and casino games will be included in a new online gambling bill to be considered in early 2019.

Some speculation was correct for 2019 in that lawmakers were ready to pull together for gambling expansion in the state of Illinois. However, online poker and other forms of internet gambling were not a part of that picture. No matter the intentions of some lawmakers, it did not happen.

In the summer of 2019, a massive gambling expansion bill passed through the legislature after months of negotiations and discussions. Governor J.B. Pritzker signed it into law. It included the legalization of video gaming terminal (VGT) establishments, five new casinos in Illinois, a mega-casino in Chicago, a new racetrack, slot machines and table games in racetracks (making them racinos), and sports betting.

There will be 16 retail sportsbooks in the state and three online sportsbooks for Illinois. Casinos, racetracks, and stadiums may begin applying for sports betting licenses in December 2019. Sports betting should be live in land-based establishments and online sometime in 2020.

The future for online poker and internet slot and table games remains unknown. The inability to include online gambling into the 2019 omnibus bill was disappointing, and it is not known if there will be an opportunity to legalize those online games in 2020.

Illinois Law and Online Poker

So where does Illinois stand when it comes to the law and online poker? The state does address the issue of online gambling directly in its law, so let’s talk a bit more about that part of the Illinois statute and a few other aspects that should be of interest to the typical online poker player.

First, what constitutes gambling in Illinois? The law is pretty clear; gambling occurs when someone

“plays a game of chance or skill for money or other thing of value” (Section 28-1).

The only exceptions are state-approved forms of gambling.

Violation of that section as a player is a class A misdemeanor (Section 28-1(c)). Illinois does not have a history of aggressively pursuing mere participants in illegal gambling.

What does Illinois law have to say about online gambling? It is illegal if someone plays poker online?

“knowingly establishes, maintains, or operates an internet site that permits a person to play a game of chance or skill for money or other thing of value by means of the internet or to make a wager upon the result of any game, contest, political nomination, appointment, or election by means of the internet” (Section 28-1(12)).”

Nothing in the section (or in any other part of Illinois law) appears to directly address the act of participating on such “internet sites” as a mere player.

What you’re left with is a situation that, to some degree, lacks legal clarity. However, that should not be mistaken as a blanket endorsement that all online gambling activity is explicitly legal. In such cases of uncertainty, players should start by reviewing the laws of Illinois personally, and then continue by consulting a lawyer if questions persist.

Illinois Gambling Guide

Most accounts of Illinois history assign gambling an early and prominent role in the story of the state. Whether through the lotteries of early settlers, the famous riverboat gambling ships that cruised Illinois waters during the 1800s or the ubiquitous, ever-present gambling halls of Chicago, you’d be hard-pressed to pick a point in the Illinois timeline that didn’t involve gambling in some way, shape or form.

Today’s gambling industry in Illinois is a result of nearly forty years of legislative shifts toward gambling expansion, one that began in 1974 with the authorization of the state lottery. Online poker legislation is an extension of those legislative trends, but like many states with a substantial land-based gambling industry, the existing interests complicate iGaming bills.

What Gambling is Regulated in Illinois?

Most popular forms of regulated gambling are permitted under Illinois law. In addition to the state lottery and the multiple casinos spread across the state, there is also legal pari-mutuel wagering in Illinois and a wide slate of charitable gambling formats.

Illinois has vastly expanded its gambling offerings in recent years, most extensively with a massive gambling expansion bill in 2019.

There had been more than 32,561 video gaming terminals (VGTs) in Illinois, but there will be more when the new law is implemented in 2020 with the creation of full VGT establishments. There were also 10 casinos in the state, but that was expanded this year to allow for five new casinos to be built and a mega-casino/resort in the city of Chicago. And on top of the three horse racing tracks in Illinois already, an additional one was approved in 2019. Racetracks will also be able to expand to become racinos and offer up to 1,200 casino games, including slots and table games.

Online lottery games have been available for some time, but sports betting will now be available online. In 2020, there will be three online sportsbooks to complement the 16 retail sportsbooks. In addition, there will be 2,500 sports betting lottery kiosks permitted throughout the state.

All Poker and Gambling Laws by State

• Illinois was close last year. There was a strong bill championed by State Representative Robert Rita and others, there were hearings, and there was widespread support for the sports betting part of the bill. Online poker and casino games were also included in that gambling expansion bill, along with new

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• December 28th, 2018

  Last year, the attempt to predict which states might join the ranks of those with legalized online poker was not very successful. In fact, only one state actually passed such legislation in 2018, but at the very last minute, on December 28, that state’s governor vetoed the bill. Oh, Michigan!

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• October 18th, 2018

  Illinois was one of only a few states that held open the possibility of legalizing online poker and other casino games in latter part of 2018. The consideration has been part of a larger gambling expansion bill that was and remains on the table for lawmakers this year. While online

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• August 26th, 2018

  While most other states that had considered online poker in 2018 abandoned those ideas earlier in the year, Illinois remained open to it. One lawmaker continues to champion one bill, and its future may depend on a legislative hearing set for October. The process of legalizing online gaming – whether

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• August 2nd, 2018

  Most states that examined online poker in early 2018 have abandoned it for the year, as legislative sessions ended and no plans were made to revisit online gaming at all in the next few months. Illinois, it appears, is not one of those states. There wasn’t much hope placed in

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• May 29th, 2018

  Online poker and gambling became real legislative possibilities for Illinois in 2017. The Senate even passed a bill to legalize and regulate those internet games one year ago, but the companion bill on the House side never garnered enough support to even pass a committee. There has been no word

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IL Online Poker and Gambling Facts: Objective Sources

ICGA . The Illinois Casino Gaming Association is a trade group representing the interests of many of Illinois’ casinos. The group’s site provides useful research material for those interested in the Illinois gambling industry.

Illinois Gaming Board. The official site for the state gaming board is the definitive resource for legal and regulatory information concerning gambling in Illinois. Get information on meetings, measures, help with problem gambling and self-exclusion along with a wealth of statistical information at the IGB website.

ICPG The online home for the Illinois Council on Problem Gambling is a central location providing access to a 24-hour helpline, speakers, and resources for educators, families and players. The ICPG is opposed to poker laws that expand and regulate the industry.

Famous Illinois Poker Players

There are actually a number of points at which the history of poker and the history of Illinois intersect. One example is the story of James Butler Hickok, better known as “Wild Bill.” It was Hickok’s death that gave a name to the now-famous “dead mans hand” – two pair, aces and eights, said to be held by the lawman when he was shot during a poker game.

Another example comes in the colorful tale of Nick “The Greek” Dandolos, who called Chicago home for much of his life. Dandolos was part of the mythic (and much debated) match up with Johnny Moss that is often cited as the template for the World Series of Poker. A final, and more modern, illustration of the shared history between poker and Illinois is author and poker player Jim McManus, who lives in the state.

The plethora of live poker rooms in Illinois have allowed poker players to flourish in Illinois through the years. Even so, many of the state’s most famous players garnered most of their experience online.

Almost all of the top live tournament earners in Illinois were famous first for their online play, like Connor Drinan, Mohsin Charania, Gavin Griffin, and Kevin Saul. Their online poker earnings are not even included in the numbers below, which goes to show how well most of them crossed over from online to live play.

The top-ranked players from Illinois, as of 2019, are as follows:

1. Connor Drinan ($11.3 million)
2. Mohsin Charania ($6.2 million)
3. Gavin Griffin ($5.1 million)
4. Ryan Tosoc ($4.8 million)
5. Aaron Massey ($4.1 million)
6. Jason Wheeler ($4 million)
7. Ravi Raghavan ($4 million)
8. Kevin Saul ($3.7 million)
9. Chris Moor ($3.6 million)
10. Kyle Julius ($3.5 million)

Sources & Citations For This Article on Illinois Online Poker

Like a lighthouse glimmering on the horizon of a pitch-black ocean, you can see the casino lights of Las Vegas luring you to gamble as you fly into McCarran International Airport. Similarly, the newly rejuvenized Atlantic City, fueled with the lifeblood of sports betting, has all its gaming options in a centralized location.

But what if you looked at gambling in an entire state? Would Nevada and New Jersey still be the gold standards?

One could argue Mississippi, with its 26 casinos, can be part of the conversation. But when you dive into how much gambling is concentrated in one state, the answer is relatively simple.

Known more for its political corruption, Michael Jordan, and deep-dish pizza (one of the finest tourist traps in America), Illinois is not a state the general audience associates with gambling. The state does indeed have an abundance of gambling options, but the lack of a centralized hub will never give it the appeal of Las Vegas or Atlantic City.

But when you analyze betting in Illinois as a whole, that is an entirely different equation.

In a world where the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) has been repealed, online poker is gaining traction, and putting lottery games online are all slowly becoming the norm, Illinois has gradually positioned itself to become the next gambling mecca.

A well-oiled gambling machine exists in the Midwest

History has not been kind to the Land of Lincoln when it comes to gambling. The state has tried and failed to pass a gambling expansion bill for years. But a few months ago, with the help of newly elected governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, lawmakers were able to pass S 690, a bill filled with every form of legal gaming imaginable.

Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of political science at The University of Illinois Springfield said, the big-ticket item for the state will be the licenses to operate sports betting.

“The governor is counting on the $10 million that each license will cost,” Redfield said in an interview with Play USA.

Pritzker is counting on $200 million in licensing fees from legalized sports betting to close a $3.2 billion budget gap, a gap that continues to grow larger and larger by the day.

“In the past, this bill would have been too big,” Redfield said. “But looking at the need for pensions, social services, and capital spending, this becomes part of the puzzle.”

But the puzzle in IL is more prominent than just sports betting.

The state of gaming in Illinois

For a frame of reference, here is the current level of gambling in the state:

• Video gaming terminals (VGT) 32,561
• VGT establishments 7,079 (5 terminals each)
• 10 casinos
• 1,200 gaming positions per casino
• 3 racetracks
• State lottery
• Online lottery games
• Daily fantasy sports
• *Note there is no gambling in Chicago

Here is the amount of gaming that will be integrated into IL, once the gambling expansion bill is fully realized.

• VGT establishments +1 extra machine
• 5 new casinos
• 2,000 gaming positions per casino
• 1 Chicago mega-casino
• 4,000 gaming positions for Chicago casino
• 11,200 total new gaming positions
• 1 new racetrack
• Sports betting
  • 16 retail sportsbooks
  • 3 online sportsbooks
• 2,500 sports betting lottery kiosks (year one)
• 2,500 sports betting lottery kiosks (year two)
• The ability for horse tracks to have up to 1,200 casino games (slots and table games)

Once every casino is built, every VGT machine is turned on, and every sportsbook is live, the amount of available gambling in Illinois will dwarf that of any state in the US.

Illinois is full of potential, but never Las Vegas

Las Vegas is known for having every vice imaginable. But that isn’t the only reason gambling companies continue to call it home.

“Illinois has a large concentration of gaming if you take into account limited gaming locations. But Illinois may not ever see the level of investment that we see in Las Vegas because of its substantial gaming tax rate,” said Jennifer Roberts, associate director of the UNLV International Center for Gaming Regulation.

Roberts, an adjunct professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law, said Nevada is very business-friendly with its tax structure, and because of this, an expansion of gambling in IL poses no threat.

“Where we may see an impact is if gaming companies traditionally headquartered in Nevada decide to move their corporate offices outside the state,” Roberts said.

With how poorly managed the tax structure in IL currently is, Nevada will not be losing any business to the Midwest, and the casino industry knows that.

In May, Moody’s Investments Servicesreleased a report that said IL had the lowest investment rating in the country.

In a statement, Moody’s vice president, Emily Raimes, had this to say:

“While most states have healthy reserves and inherently strong fiscal flexibility, Illinois and New Jersey both have low levels of reserves relative to the potential revenue decline in our recession scenario. In addition, they both show weakness in their pension risk scores.”

Illinois has a staggering $133.5 billion in unfunded state pension liabilities. The hope is that gambling mixed with Pritzker’s $41.5 billion capital plan over the next six years will help bring some relief to the state.

Illinois gambling opposition and tax rates

As thorough as the expansion plans are, there is always opposition. The Illinois Casino Gaming Association (ILCGA) opposed the bill from the start. Tom Swoik, executive director of ILCGA, told ProPublica-Illinois, the gambling bill would not benefit the casino industry.

“This state has not been business-friendly to casinos from the beginning, and this bill doesn’t help that,” Swoik said.

Unlike other states, IL has draped the gaming industry in taxes ever since riverboat gambling appeared in the 1990s.

Currently, casinos are taxed 15 percent AGR up to or including $25 million, according to the Illinois Gaming Control Board (ILGCB). Video gaming is taxed at 30 percent with a four percent increase slated for 2020.

Once it arrives, sports betting will be taxed at 15 percent but the real kicker is the massive 72 percent tax rate for a Chicago casino.

Is Online Horse Betting Legal In Illinois

Despite the lopsided tax structure, Cory Aronovitz, a gaming attorney with Casino Law Group, told Play USA, Illinois had positioned itself to lead in two very critical categories.

“The way Illinois approached the gambling bill will put it in a position to maximize revenues, as well as, lead in the integrity aspect of regulation,” Aronovitz said.

According to figures from the ILGCB, the state collected $39,618,042 in gambling taxes in August, while municipalities divided up $7,074,648–all from VGTs.

In August, the state’s 10 casinos generated $117,895,319 in gross gaming revenue. Of that, $38,057,318 went to the state and $6,841,296 to local municipalities.

The numbers appear promising even without sports betting, but are they enough to pull the state out of the financial abyss it calls home and bring new business to the Midwest?

Can Illinois expect gambling help in the immediate future?

Steve Brubaker, a longtime gambling lobbyist in IL, said the top two earners in the state are VGT companies followed by Rivers Casino.

In August, Rivers generated $37,598,367 in gross gaming revenue, with the next closest being the Grand Victoria in Elgin, IL, which collected $14,484,111.

But according to Brubaker, don’t expect the floodgates to burst wide open with gambling and tax dollars.

“Those who think we are going to have all this gaming in the first year or two haven’t been paying attention to the history of Illinois,” Brubaker said.

However, Aronovitz speculates the state gaming board might move rather quickly with some aspects of the gaming bill. In terms of VGT’s, Aronovits fully expects a rollout of new gaming machines to occur later this fall.

“I predict there will be sports betting by the start of the 2020 football season,” Aronovits said. “Issuance of new casino licenses by late October 2020 with the anticipation of a Chicago casino by Q3 or Q4 of 2021.”

Is Online Gambling Legal In Illinois

But first, a few things must be fixed by the gaming board, and on September 17, the ILGCB took steps to clean things up.

The five-member board passed a resolution that would change the state law making casinos more viable. Although a step in the right direction, newly appointed chairman Charles Schmadeke told the Chicago Tribune, the role of the gaming board is not to tell lawmakers what to do.

“Our role is merely to refer to the legislature for consideration, and it’s up to them to do as they deem appropriate,” Schmadeke said.

Is Online Sports Gambling Legal In Illinois

Legal Illinois gambling and what could be…

Perhaps it’s foolish to think Illinois could ever become a lighthouse off in the distance–a beacon of gambling delight where sports bettors, daily fantasy sports enthusiast, and casino fiends come to indulge in all the pleasure the state has to offer.

Illinois is poised to see gambling growth for the next several years. Lawmakers are planning to correct some of the mistakes in S 690 when they return for a veto session in October. All legislative sponsors of the gambling bill could not be reached for comment.

“This is a long term commitment by the state,” Aronovitz said. “The realization of tax revenue will need to be revisited after the initial rollout of full gaming under the act.”

Is Online Gambling Legal In Illinois

But the path to a gambling mecca, even if only in the Midwest, has already been put into motion.

Two of the state’s racetracks have already submitted applications to operate casino games. One way or another, Chicago will get its long sought-after casino. Sports betting will finally arrive with glorious applause, more VGT’s will pop up, and additional casinos will be constructed.

Illinois is hoping gambling can help pull itself out of debt. But in the end, everyone knows the house always wins.