Illinois Online Casino Gambling Bill Filled In General Assembly
- Democratic Rep. Robert Rita has filed a new bill in the Illinois General Assembly to bring online casino gambling to the Prairie State.
- The bill would launch legal casino sites through local casinos and racetracks should it be approved.
- Illinois already has online sports betting available.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Players in Illinois may soon be able to take the casino on the go should a new internet casino bill pass in the General Assembly.
Democratic Rep. Robert Rita filed the new online casino gambling bill to bring legal casino sites to the Prairie State.
Casino operators and racetracks would be able to host legal casino sites for patrons should this new bill pass. With online and mobile sports betting already available in Illinois, the state’s legal gambling market is looking to expand even further.
Online Casinos In Illinois.
The Illinois online gambling market could easily transition into offer casino games since legal sports betting has already proven financially successful.
The new bill, HB 3142 is a standard online gambling bill. The state would grant gaming licenses to casino and racetrack operations allowing them to offer online gambling.
Online poker gaming would also be allowed as Illinois is working for mufti-state liquidity sharing. This would allow major poker events like WSOP to operate as the tournament is cross-state gambling.
The Illinois Gaming Board would be in charge of the regulations, the same as they are with sports betting, and mobile casinos would be able to launch in the Prairie State.
The bill would require in-person registration for the first six months of operations, which would then be followed by remote signups state-wide.
In the bill proposed by Rep. Rita, the state would see 12% of revenue in state taxes which is slightly lower than the 15% collected in sports betting taxes in Illinois.
Also, unlike sports betting, there is no home rule tax, as Chicago taxes an additional 2% on wagers made in the Windy City.
The current proposed licensing fee would be $500,000, with an additional $250,000 renewal fee. Should the bill pass, however, regulators could change these during regulation hearings.
Online poker gaming would also be allowed as Illinois is working for mufti-state liquidity sharing. This would allow major poker events like WSOP to operate as the tournament is cross-state gambling.
Proponents argue, Illinois is the perfect market for online casino gaming, as so far sports betting has generated over $125 million in revenue with the state seeing around $19 million in taxes collected.
The bill will be reviewed at a later date.