Can I Gamble Online In Illinois

• Can I Gamble Online In Illinois State
• How To Gamble Online In Illinois
• Can I Gamble Online In Illinois Right Now
• Can I Gamble Online In Illinois Today

Twelve of these states legally permit 18-year-olds to enjoy casino games at brick and mortar casinos, while the remaining are all states where it is legal to participate in 18+ casino gambling online. There are very few regions in the US that have chosen to prohibit licensed and regulated online gambling from offshore online casinos. At the moment, Illinois does not regulate its online gambling market. This means that if you encounter an issue while gambling online, you will need to rely on the website that you play with to help you out. Make sure to play through online casino sites that are available to answer your questions 24/7. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) or texting “ILGamb” to 53342. For additional info or to exclude yourself, call 1-800-252-1775. Message and data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help or STOP to cancel at any time.

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.

Best Online Poker Sites in Illinois for Real Money in 2021

Deposit Limits: $10 – $5,000

Accepts: Visa, Bitcoin, Mastercard, Bank Wire

Ignition is a popular option for players in the United States. They offer most popular cash game variants and more than $1.5 million in weekly online poker tournament guarantees. Ignition also offers Zone Poker, similar to Zoom Poker where you’re moved to a new table and dealt a new hand every time you fold.

Ignition Poker also offer a wide variety of poker promotions.

Join Ignition Poker here and get up to $2000 free!

Deposit Limits: $10 – $5,000

Accepts: Bitcoin, Visa, Bank Wire

Licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Bovada is one of the oldest online poker sites servicing America. Bovada offers anonymous tables and a mobile-optimized design allowing play on all mobile platforms. The design makes it feel like you’re playing in Las Vegas rather than your home computer.

They offer a wide variety of cash games and tournaments with over $1.5 million in weekly guarantees.

Join Bovada Poker here and get a $500 bonus!

Deposit Limits: $25 – $25,000

Accepts: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Visa, MasterCard, Money Transfers, Bank Wire

Sportsbetting.ag offers a robust online poker option with excellent cash game and tournament action. For cash games, they provide weekly cash leaderboards with $10,000 in prizes weekly. They offer over $45,000 in weekday guarantees, over $130,000 in guarantees on Saturday and over $275,000 in guarantees on Sunday.

If you like fast-fold poker variants like Zoom Poker, you’ll love Boost Poker. Get a new hand every time you fold in this fast-paced game.

Join Sportsbetting.ag – 100% up to $1000 for new US players!

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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Latest Updates Through 2021

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 went live in land-based establishments and online in March 2020.

The future for online poker and internet slot and table games remains unknown. The inability to include online gambling into the omnibus bill was disappointing, and it is not known if there will be an opportunity to legalize those online games in 2021.

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, and more were installed when the new law was 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 2021, 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.

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

It is a glorious time to gamble in Illinois. The Land of Lincoln has casinos, sportsbooks, horsetracks, and a host of other gaming options available.

Obviously, the buzz both inside Illinois and around the US is about sports betting. However, Illinois also has other gambling options including sweepstake casinos, lottery and horse racing.

This page will provide you with the latest news on Illinois gambling laws, what and how sweepstakes sites work and what you can expect to see when it comes to Illinois online casinos.

Sweepstakes casinos accepting Illinois players

Latest Illinois Gambling Updates

Last update: March 8, 2021

Customers will continue to have the ability to sign up for sports betting accounts from home. Gov. JB Pritzker recently announced he has once again extended mobile registration till April 3.

Additionally, Churchill Downs has decided to sellArlington International Racecourse.

Churchill is a current applicant for the Waukegan casino license so experts have speculated Churchill plans to transfer its gaming license.

Can I Gamble Online In Illinois State

Other applicants for the Waukegan license are Full House Resorts and North Point Casino.

Is online gambling legal in Illinois?

Yes, but only sweepstakes casinos.

There are several different ways that you can gamble online in Illinois. However, two notable exceptions are online casinos and online poker.

Illinois has not approved laws for either type of site just yet. The good news, though, is that with nearby states with online casinos and poker up and running (Michigan), Illinois lawmakers will be able to observe the positive effect on the state’s bottom line and, naturally, want the same for themselves.

So, although online casinos and poker are not part of Illinois’ offerings just yet, they are probably not too far away from becoming a reality.

Sweepstakes sites and playing online casino games in IL

One option that may tide you over until there is a move to regulate IL online casinos and poker sites, is a sweepstakes site. If you’ve never heard about sweepstakes casino and poker sites before, they may seem a bit hard to believe. You can play some pretty entertaining online slots in Illinois, and it’s completely legal.

Your top options for sweepstakes sites in Illinois are the following:

• Global Poker (online poker)

Sweepstakes are present everywhere. Technically, these sites belong in the same category as PCH or the fast-food sweepstakes. Essentially, as long as you can play for free and the prizes are awarded as advertised, the site is good to go. Sweepstakes sites are able to offer a host of online casino games and poker through a dual-currency system that allows their classification to remain valid. You can win real cash prizes at these sites.

So, here are some of the options you have at your disposal:

• Slot games – These are indistinguishable from their online casino counterparts. They can be played with both play money and real money equivalents, and offer big payouts and progressive jackpots in the same way as a normal online casino would. You can also find video poker games on sweepstakes sites, too.
• Table games – Options for table games are decidedly more limited, but you can still find them if you prefer to play that way. Obviously, blackjack is the most common game to find, but you can also see options for roulette, keno, and Caribbean stud poker on various sites.
• Online Poker – Poker games are almost exclusively found on Global Poker, unsurprisingly. Global offers the ability to play no-limit Texas hold’em, pot-limit Omaha, and Crazy Pineapple in cash game, tournament, and sit-n-go formats.

When you first play on one of these sites, the dual currencies might be a bit hard to grasp. However, after the shock wears off, you’ll find that many of these sites do quite well as stopgaps until Illinois gets online casino gambling and poker in earnest. For that matter, you may even find that the sweepstakes sites are great options in their own right, anyway.

Illinois gambling laws

There are multiple types of gambling that Illinois inhabitants can enjoy. Both online and land-based options abound, and the list of opportunities is growing longer each month.

Riverboat casinos have been a fixture in the Land of Lincoln for more than thirty years. There are 10 different floating properties scattered throughout Illinois, although most are clustered around Chicago and St. Louis, the latter of which is just across the Mississippi River in Missouri.

Alongside the riverboats are scads of locations with video gaming terminals (VGTs). VGTs are electronic lottery machines that have little difference, functionally, from a regular slot machine. They have been part of life in Illinois since 2009 and gained full legal status thanks to the massive expansion of gambling in 2019.

That expansion also ushered both online and retail sports betting into Illinois. Retail sports betting is now present at a majority of Illinois’ riverboat casinos, is available at racetracks and OTBs, and may even be available at major sports arenas throughout the state.

There are also multiple active sportsbook apps in Illinois right now. That number is certain to grow, and the sunsetting of the in-person registration requirement in September 2021 should only make the Prairie State a more attractive market for other sports betting companies.

Finally, it is also possible to play the Illinois Lottery, bet on horseraces, and engage in daily fantasy sports through your mobile devices and computers in Illinois. So, there is no shortage of options for Illinois residents and visitors who want to join the fun.

Other forms of legal gambling

Online sports betting launched in Illinois in June 2020. BetRivers Sportsbook, which is owned by Rush Street Interactive (which also owns Rivers Des Plaines), became the first sports betting app to launch in Illinois. Since then, multiple apps have joined the party, including: DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet, and William Hill.

Alongside online sports betting, Illinois residents and visitors are also able to bet on horse races through the TVG racing site. Online horse betting is available in the Prairie State through a variety of sites.

Finally, Illinoisans and guests to the state can also play in daily fantasy sports play if they choose. An Illinois Supreme Court ruling in April 2020 definitively identified DFS as not gambling and has legitimized the notion of playing the game in some capacity in Illinois.

Casino and riverboat locations in Illinois

The most obvious places to play in Illinois are its casinos. Each casino, at the time of its construction, was required to be on water. So, most of the casino options are riverboats moored permanently on waterways. However, there is at least one casino (Rivers Des Plaines) that is simply resting in a shallow pit filled with water.

The casinos each offer different options for gaming, but, in general, they have slot machines and table games in many varieties. Whether they have sports betting and poker onsite is a different matter, however. Here are all the riverboat casino locations in Illinois:

• Argosy Casino Alton – Alton*
• DraftKings at Casino Queen – East St. Louis*
• Grand Victoria Casino – Elgin ‡
• Harrah’s Joliet Casino & Hotel – Joliet †
• Harrah’s Metropolis Casino & Hotel – Metropolis
• Hollywood Casino Aurora – Aurora ‡
• Hollywood Casino Joliet – Joliet*
• Jumer’s Casino & Hotel – Rock Island †
• Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino – East Peoria*
• Rivers Casino Des Plaines – Des Plaines*

*Sportsbook onsite

†Poker room onsite

‡Both sportsbook and poker room onsite

All 10 have a variety of slots, including reel slots and progressive slots, plus video poker.

How To Gamble Online In Illinois

Illinois law does not permit casinos to remain open 24 hours, which means most will close their doors for two to four hours each day during the early morning.

The Illinois Gambling Act authorizes six additional casinos to be built in Illinois in the following locations:

• Chicago
• Danville
• Waukegan
• Rockford
• Williamson County (near Carbondale)
• Cook County in either Bloom, Bremen, Calumet, Rich, Thornton or Worth

The new law also allows the riverboat casinos to finally become land-based casinos after paying a fee and obtaining regulators’ approval to do so.

The existing casinos will be allowed to expand their operations from 1,200 to 2,000 “gaming positions” should they desire, with such expansion also requiring the payment of a position fee for every added position.

Meanwhile, the new Chicago “mega-casino” will be much bigger, with 4,000 gaming positions.

Illinois video gaming terminals

Can I Gamble Online In Illinois Right Now

Since 2009, video gaming terminals, or VGTs, have been available throughout Illinois at licensed retail establishments.

You’ll often find them in establishments with liquor licenses like restaurants, bars, convenience stores and hotels. Truck stops and fraternal or veteran’s organizations with national charters also have them.

Can I Gamble Online In Illinois Today

The law initially allowed each establishment up to five VGTs in one location. However, the Illinois Gambling Act amended the Video Gaming Act to increase that number to six while also allowing “large truck stops” to operate up to 10 VGTs.

Other changes to the law include increasing the maximum bet (from $2 to $4), increasing the maximum win (from $500 to $1,199), the authorization of progressive jackpots and an increase in the tax imposed from 30% to 33%.

The VGTs are housed in stand-alone, slant-top cabinets or upright cabinets set on a base such as a bar.

The machines are very much like video slots. However, unlike the slots in casinos, each VGT typically features a wide variety of games from which to choose, including slots and video poker games.

In late 2019 there were more than 6,800 establishments with VGTs in Illinois, making the state the country’s leader by a wide margin over Nevada, which has around 2,000 locations.

Responsible gambling in Illinois

Illinois has several measures in place to protect and assist problem gamblers.

In 2002, the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) launched the Statewide Riverboat Voluntary Self-Exclusion Program for Problem Gamblers, known as SEP.

The program allows those who determine they are problem gamblers to self-exclude themselves from Illinois casinos. The new gambling expansion law extends SEP to sports wagering as well.

In 2018, the IGB additionally established the Problem Gambling Registry for Video Gaming.

Those who enroll receive regular emails providing information about problem gambling with links to problem gambling prevention and treatment resources in the state. The program is available both to Illinois and out-of-state residents.

The Illinois Department of Human Services has also developed a website to provide support and advice for problem gamblers — WeKnowTheFeeling.org — that also invites problem gamblers to contact them by phone at 1-800-GAMBLER.

The IGB site also provides additional information regarding these programs and other help for problem gamblers.

Historical overview of legal gambling in Illinois

Legal and regulated pari-mutuel horse race betting in Illinois dates back to 1927.

Illinois first introduced the lottery in 1974, joining the first big wave of states to do so. Later in 2012, Illinois became the first state to offer online lottery ticket sales and is still one of a limited number of states that do.

Riverboat gambling has been legal in Illinois since 1990 and, in fact, Illinois was the second state in the US to legalize riverboat gambling after Iowa. A year later, the first riverboat casino opened the Alton Belle (then to become the Argosy Casino Alton).

For the first several years, the boats were required to leave docks and set sail at regular intervals, but that is no longer the case. At present, 10 riverboat casinos are operating either on boats or docked barges or on what are essentially land-based properties resting in shallow water.

In 2009, the Video Gaming Act was enacted in Illinois, allowing the placement of VGTs in licensed retail locations, truck stops, and veteran and fraternal establishments.

More recently, in June 2019, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Illinois Gambling Act, a law allowing for significant gambling expansion in the state. The new law permits six new casinos to be built, including one “mega-casino” near Chicago.

It also allows the existing casinos and racetracks to expand the number of “gaming positions” they can offer, including allowing the tracks to become “racinos” by adding slots and table games.