Both bills would also allow Illinois to join MSIGA, but they differ on a tax rate - HB 2239 calls for a 15% tax rate, while under HB 2320, the tax rate would be 12%. (D-Chicago) introduced a very similar bill to legalize online poker and casino gaming, HB 2239.īoth bills would allow an unspecified number of qualified licensees (meaning the state’s land-based casinos and racetracks) to have up to three skins for online casino gaming. Carroll returned with a new bill, HB 2320, in February 2023. The compact allows operators to combine their player pools across multiple states, creating larger tournaments with bigger prizes.Īs it turns out, HB 3142 won’t be the last word on the matter. MSIGA provides the shared liquidity needed to support online poker. Multi-State Online Poker in IllinoisĪlthough it failed, HB 3142 was consequential because it would have allowed the IGB to launch multi-state poker and for Illinois to join a gaming compact like the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement ( MSIGA), which includes Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia. Morgan Stanley had projected $1.3 billion in igaming revenue in 2025 and $1.7 billion by 2028. In June 2022, analysts with Morgan Stanley projected that Illinois would generate $868 million from online poker and casino in 2024 - but that was based on igaming expansion being enacted in 2023. They introduced a bill, HB 3142, to legalize both verticals in February of that year, but it died in committee. Robert Rita (D-Blue Island) and Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook) tried to add online poker (and casino gaming) to the mix in 2021. The first retail sportsbook opened in March 2020, and the first mobile sportsbook launched three months later - Chicago-based Rush Street Interactive ( RSI) was the first to market with both under its flagship BetRivers brand. Sports betting in Illinois was legalized in June 2019. Lawmakers agreed to let ten riverboats move to land in 2019, although such moves were subject to approval by the Illinois Gaming Board ( IGB) and a $250,000 fee. The first riverboat casino in Illinois opened in September 1991.

Illinois became the second state in the nation with legal riverboat gambling in 1990 ( FYI, neighboring Iowa was first in 1989). Additional series expected through Run It Once. PokerStars US Championship of Online Poker ( USCOOP), WSOP Gold Ring Online Circuit Series & Gold Bracelet Series. Not currently legal, but there is active legislation (through January 2025) before the Illinois General Assembly.īetMGM Poker IL, PokerStars IL, Run It Once Poker IL, WSOP IL

Chicago riverboat casino