Illinois online gambling plans progress
Gambling expansion bill proposing five news casinos also includes egaming " third hearing to take place in Senate today.
Proposals to massively expand gambling in Illinois including the regulated of egaming have edged closer to reality after a bill was approved by the Senate Executive Committee yesterday.
Last year Senate President John Cullerton introduced an amended version of HB 4148 proposing the creation of a new Division of Internet Gaming in the Illinois Lottery, which would offer internet wagering on its own egaming platform, but took it off the state’s Executive Committee agenda before the 31 May procedural deadline.
It is understood that strong objections from the state’s land-based casinos, citing the potential cannibalisation of revenues, put paid to Cullerton’s efforts.
Under the law, any of the state’s 16 licensed casinos and racetracks would have been free to apply for licences to host games through the Illinois Lottery, which is the first in the US to begin selling lottery tickets online.
Illinois is the sixth largest state in the US with a population of just over 12.8 and is one of the few which has the potential for games where pooled liquidity is a driving factor, such as poker and bingo.
eGR‘s data partner H2 Gambling Capital forecasts the combined size of poker and casino for a commercially regulated market could reach US$603.4m by year three in Illinois, growing to $805.7m by year five.