Illinois Sportsbook Promos And Online Gambling Guide

Widely available

Businesses all over the place accept PayPal. Almost all the best online casinos in the US have PayPal as an available banking method. Plus, there are so many online retailers and service providers that accept PayPal, you may never have to transfer the money you withdraw from an online casino back to your bank. You can keep it on PayPal and use it almost everywhere online, if you wish.

Gambling history in Illinois

Gambling activities in the State of Illinois have an interesting background. Riverboat gambling and horse racing have been the peaks of the Illinois gambling industry, supported by a population of nearly 12.9 million. Going back to the 1800’s, we can find traces of unlicensed riverboat casinos which served shady people at the stud poker tables. Horse race betting was legalized in the 1920s, so then people were able to enjoy parlor casino ambience and the thrill at the races. Pari-mutuel betting on the horses became a huge success and evolved into a respectable gambling industry in the Prairie State.

What brought the Illinois gambling scene under the spotlight of history was the fact that it was the first state to legitimize State Lottery, in 1974. The idea was to fund local schools. Now, Illinois State Lottery ranks among the top 10 in the US in terms of revenue, and earns 60% of the profits from selling scratch-offs. Of course, it also offers interstate games like MegaMillions and Powerball. In 1975, the Illinois Horse Racing Act was signed into effect, allowing licensed tracks to offer both harness and thoroughbred racing. A decade later, simulcast wagering and off-track betting were approved. The glorious return of riverboat casinos happened in 1991, when laws were passed allowing them to offer gambling games as long as they were always moving on the rivers. Patrons would wait in long lines for hours for the boats to set sail in the evenings, until the clause regarding moving casinos were eventually repealed in 1999.

More games were allowed to be added to racetracks, and also land-based casinos, in 2011 with the Casinos Act SB744. When it comes to online wagering, Illinois has mixed feeling towards it. The state allows the selling of online lottery tickets, but explicitly outlaws offering online gambling services through online casinos within Illinois borders.

Land based casinos

As tax dollars were pouring into casinos from neighboring states like Indiana and Iowa, politicians grew tired of it and loosened Illinois regulations, allowing riverboat casinos to flourish and eventually announced the possibility of six brick and mortar casinos being built, including one in Chicago. Strangely enough, Illinois remains without tribal gaming, although there are registered tribes on the state territory. The problem is how both parties - the state government and the tribe - define reservations, because tribal casinos are only allowed to be built on Native American reservations. The Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe wanted to claim their right to offer gambling and construct a bingo hall in 2016, 70 miles west of Chicago. The US Department of the Interior didn’t allow it, as the 128 acres owned by the Prairie Band Potawatomi didn’t count as legitimate reservation land.

All in all, Illinoisans enjoy more than enough gambling options thanks to riverboat casinos. There are 10 of them; River Casino Des Plaines was the 10th to acquire a license to operate in 2012. Cook County, along with the city of Chicago, does not allow riverboat gambling so as to protect the horse racing industry in that area. Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Jumer’s Casino & Hotel in Rock Island, and Casino Queen in East. St. Louis qualify as being riverboat casinos, but you can also consider them legit land-based casinos, as they are built upon shallow pits with some water in them.

All casinos in Illinois do not allow smoking and they aren’t open 24/7. The two largest facilities are Hollywood Casino Joliet and Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino. Hollywood Casino Joliet offers nearly 1,200 slot machines and 20 table games. It stretches across 50,000 square feet and includes 4 restaurants. Its opening hours are 7:30 am - 5:30 am daily. Par-A-Dice Hotel features over 1,150 slots and more than 21 table games. It is a 1,600-passenger boat docked on the Illinois River, with 4 restaurants and 195 rooms. Casino Hours: are from 8 am to 4am/6am (Fri/Sat). More interesting venues include Harrah's Metropolis and Jumer's Casino & Hotel.

Neighbouring States: Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin

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Keep your cool

We cannot stress enough how important this particular tip is. Many players in the past have lost a ton of money because they became emotional and tried to chase their losses. Never let your emotion get the best of you. If you feel like you are starting to lose your cool then step away from the computer or mobile and take a breather. Chasing your losses while you are emotionally unsteady is a surefire way for you to lose more of your money.

Illinois Lottery

The Illinois state lottery has been around since 1974, back in a time when only states in the Midwest and Northeast offered such games to their residents. Operated by the Northstar Lottery Group, the Illinois lottery was also the first of its kind to have its non multi-jurisdictional drawings broadcast across the nation. In order to be eligible for a cash payout, a customer must be at least 18 years of age.

Televised drawings are held twice a day, and Illinois participates in several multi-state games such as Powerball and Mega Millions, as well as those that are labeled “in-house.” In 2012, they also became the first state to allow lottery sales via the Internet.

Since the inception of their state lottery, Illinois has raised over $18 billion in funds. Much of this money is used to fund public schools and infrastructure, but additional recipients have included HIV/AIDS researchers, breast cancer charities, and military veterans.

Current lottery games include the following:

• Pick 3
• Pick 4
• Fireball
• Lotto
• Lotto Extra Shot
• Lucky Day Lotto
• Powerball
• Mega Millions

In addition to lottery tickets, residents and those passing through the state may also purchase scratch-off tickets at hundreds of convenience stores and other licensed retailers. The amounts and prizes vary, as do the themes which range from local sports teams to television game shows.

Illinois is one state with no shortage of gambling options available to residents. They are also one of the few states with Limited Video Lottery Terminals (VLT’s) available just about everywhere, so usually, traditional forms of lottery suffer in terms of losses per resident due to that fact. Of course, as we see with states such as West Virginia and Montana, the state governments make much more in revenues overall the more they expand gambling options—even if it means a small hit to traditional lottery games.

What we will come to find is that traditional forms of Illinois Lottery, despite other gambling options available to residents, do a little bit above average.

One reason for this is because Chicago is the third most populous city in the country and is largely responsible for Illinois coming in 12th, nationally, when it comes to population density. One thing that we have found is that high population density tends to positively correlate with high sales of traditional lottery (Instant and Drawing Tickets) products, even when there are other forms of gambling readily available.

From the 2019 Annual Report, we find that lottery sales for the year were 2,974,539,000 and total prizes were in the amount of 1,907,153,000, thereby resulting in an overall return to players of 64.12%, all games considered. The total amount lost to traditional lottery games was $1,067,386,000 which, based on an estimated population of 12.67M for 2019, comes out to a loss pre resident of about $84.25.

Unfortunately, this Annual Report doesn’t even break the sales and returns to player down to general types of games, so we have no idea what the specific return of Instant Tickets was. Judging by overall lottery sales, if we had to make a guess, then we would guess that it would be somewhere near the average of 70% for Instant Ticket games.

If you’re interested, the State Lottery also prepared a report on the impacts of Covid as it relates to 2020 Covid Sales compared to Fiscal Year 2019 as well as pre-Covid expectations. That report can be found here.

Overall, the results weren’t great, but could have been much worse.

Legal Online Casinos In Illinois: Common Questions

Sports betting is the genre of online gambling that has always been in hot contention. Until May 2018 PASPA was the governing regulation that prohibited state-based sportsbooks from operating. The DOJ’s formal opinion on the Federal Wire Act totally outlawed US-based sports betting businesses that operate primarily over the internet. These two laws combined to address state-regulated sports betting both online and offline.

In 2019 the state passed legislation to allow domestic and online sports betting following the repeal of PASPA. The state has plans to allow sports betting kiosks as well as brick-and-mortar sportsbooks at stadiums. The state was hoping for a 2019 launch but with the end of the year looming it will likely be 2020 before domestic sportsbooks begin to accept bets.

Yet, sports fans in Illinois still have access to legally sanctioned online sportsbooks that are located outside of the country. The betting sites that you will find listed in this guide all have options for betting on professional, amateur and collegiate sports, as well as some categories that are less mainstream such as esports, cricket, rugby, darts, water sports and other less known options. You can even place bets on entertainment and politics at any of the online sportsbooks that accept Illinois players.

2012

The Illinois Gaming Board begins mass approval of the state’s first video gaming licenses.

Tips for a safe online experience with the best casino in Illinois

So, while you won’t find any online casinos operating out of Illinois at present, you can still find some offshore online casinos to take advantage of. As we mentioned, many of these online casinos are unregulated so you’ll need to look out for a few important aspects to ensure a safe gambling experience. These tips will still be equally as important when Illinois ultimately legalizes online casinos in the state as well.

December 2011

The United States Department of Justice releases its opinion that the federal Wire Act only applies to sports betting. That confirms the legality of state lottery sales over the internet.

Is there horse racing in Illinois?

Yes. Most tracks are located in Chicago.

October 2015

The Illinois Lottery begins electronic drawings, using a computer with a random number generator instead of the traditional machines with numbered balls.

Illinois Bingo

No state-sanctioned bingo sites are operating in Illinois, where live bingo is considered a charitable game. Playing on offshore bingo sites that accept Illinois residents is just as illegal as playing on unlicensed poker and casino sites, and it may expose you to class A misdemeanor charges.

RNG

A random number generator is basic computer software that plays a major role in the fairness of players. RNG is an essential construct of any casino site and probably the main reason why games are fair.

RNG also makes online slots a lot of fun! You must look for a good RNG when deciding on the gambling site you want.

What are wagering requirements?

Wagering requirements refer to the number of times a bonus needs to be wagered before players can request a withdrawal. Wagering requirements can be anything between 1x and 50x, but anything over 40x is considered high.

Additional details on the legislation

The bill also outlines some other interesting caveats, as reported by Online Poker Report earlier this week including:

• Allowing gaming company servers and computer systems to be located outside the state. Players only must wager within the state.
• Players could link their Illinois wagering account to those they may have set up in other states.

One negative for the industry may be a requirement for players to register in person at a casino or racetrack. Some sports betting markets have created these stipulations, suppressing participation.

Fortunately that measure would only be in place for the first six months.

As real money online poker continues to explode around the world, US players continue to have some reason for optimism. States like Kentucky, Indiana, North Dakota, and Connecticut have seen efforts underway recently for regulated iGaming.

Many jurisdictions are grappling with revenue shortages due to COVID-19. Internet gaming and poker offer added funds to state coffers. It seems likely more will get on board.

Casinos, Governor JB Pritzker, Illinois, Illinois Gaming Board, Internet Gaming Act, Legislation, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Online Gambling, Pennsylvania, Poker, Racetracks, Regulated Online Poker, Sean Chaffin, State Rep. Jonathan Carroll, State Rep. Robert Rita, US Poker, West Virginia

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Conclusion – A great selection once you know what you’re doing

To wrap up, we ultimately believe Illinois online slots, have a great selection for Illinois residents. Whether you want to play for money outside the state, or have fun inside it, there’s platforms like Chumba and LuckyLand that offer you plenty of IL online casino bonus offers and entertainment to keep you busy.. We offer five tips that you can live by when it comes to a safe experience playing Illinois online slots. We also inform you of exactly how we review slots sites, so you know exactly how much we value quality and safety. There’s something for everyone for the online slots lovers in Illinois.

Does Every Casino On The Internet Accept Illinois Players 18 And Over?

No, certain online casinos do not accept IL players, especially those as young as eighteen. This is because some online brands do not serve the American market and others that do, do not accept such young players. However, our provided list is specifically designed for US players, specifically those in the Prairie State, as young as eighteen.

Players can access our portal of legally licensed offshore online gaming sites to play a variety of casino games, poker, and enjoy sports betting options.

Social Casino Apps Versus Real Money Online Casino Apps

In states where online casinos have been legalized, you will find various mobile sites where you can play for real money. These real money gambling apps are the online destinations we have been discussing here.

In other states, however, you may have the option of playing on social casino apps. These offer free play casino games, where you wager in tokens. However, at some social casinos you can exchange your tokens for the chance to play sweepstakes games, in which you can win real money.

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Idaho

#6 Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino

21 Blackjack Blvd, East Peoria, IL 61611

21 Blackjack Boulevard, East Peoria, IllinoisThis relatively old casino is the number one spot for gaming and entertainment in central Illinois. You will find 5 tables of live-action poker, 21 table games and over 1,000 gaming machines. Great rooms at affordable prices, kind and smiling staff that treat you warmly.

Par-A-Dice Casino is a riverboat casino, with the hotel on the shore. It is relatively small when compared to Las Vegas, but not overly small such that there are limited games to play. On the contrary, their game variety is very good. They offer Caribbean Stud, Wheel of Fortune, loose slots, Hot Seat, blackjack, craps, roulette, three card poker, Let It Ride, and poker, just to name a few.

Gaming – The gaming is across four floors, in which it is entirely non smoking. However, there are designated smoking areas outside, if you wish to smoke. The wagering is touted as one of the lowest minimum in any casino in the State.

Food – No food is sold on the boat only drinks. The soda and water is for free, but the alcohol you will need to pay for. Having said that, the drinks are reasonably cheap. Dining, snacks, eating is therefore onshore. There are a few restaurants and bars. Buffet is available from Wednesday through to Sunday at the Options Buffet. A breakfast buffet is also available from Wednesday through to Sunday, with à la carte breakfast served at Nelson’s Deli on Monday and Tuesday.

Location – Situated on the Peoria Lake, part of the Illinois River, the location cannot get much better than this. The view is simply stunning, even if you lose a bit of coin on the games, the picturesque surroundings is worth it. Sunrise and sunset is gorgeous.

Hotel – The hotel is not directly connected to the riverboat casino, but it’s only a very short walk away. Professionally run, the staff are friendly and helpful. The lobby contains two computers providing free internet, in addition there is free Wi-Fi. Parking facilities are free and generous, and there is a shuttle bus that runs to the Civic Center. Large car parking for trucks and RV’s is available further away from the premise.

Summary

You will love it here. Perfect for gaming, the scenery and the wallet. You really get value for money at Par-A-Dice.

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Illinois Online Casino Legalization

Illinois legalized and launched online sports betting just last year. Its Midwest neighbor Michigan launched online sports betting and online casino apps in January 2021. Perhaps Illinois saw the initial Michigan success and wanted a little of the casino gaming action for itself.

The Illinois State Legislature introduced HB 3142. If passed, the bill would permit any retail casinos or racetracks in Illinois to launch up to three online casino skins, or operators, within the state.

Casino Bonuses

One of the attractive features of the top gambling sites is the bonuses they offer. Best Casino bonuses help the player to enjoy the games they want for long. Moreover, it keeps your bankroll at the top, which is also really great, specifically when the need arises.

Most of the casinos that we suggest will provide you with the best bonus packages available from any platform. Once you sign up, you usually will receive a welcome bonus. This bonus will likely multiply your initial bonus to some degree.

If you’re lucky, you might even get a no deposit bonus or some free spins as well; once you start gambling frequently, more promotions will be available. These include reload bonuses, free spins, refer friend bonuses, and even tournament entries.

But what you must keep in your thoughts is that these gambling bonuses are not helpful to everyone. Some of the welcome bonuses are best suited for online slots and others for real money poker.

Now the thing here is if you’re going to play poker only and there is no motivation to play slots, accepting this bonus is a waste of your time.

You should check the gambling site’s page for promotions to figure out what suits you the best. If you do not find any promotions worth your time, pick the loyalty club, we are sure they won’t disappoint you.

The main points to keep in mind while choosing the best bonuses are as follows:

• First, go through all the terms and conditions properly and have a proper understanding of all the playthrough requirements.
• Next up, you may think, what is a playthrough requirement? It is an amount that you would wager before you collect any winnings from the bonus.
• For example, a 100% match bonus, with a deposit of $100 along with a 35x playthrough, will ask you to wager about $3500.
• Lastly, if you feel you just cannot take up the maximum bonus, you can try making a smaller deposit and go for a smaller yet generous offer.

Are all game provider’s games available in all states?

No. Game providers also need to be licensed to offer their games. These companies may decide to not offer their games in certain states to keep their expenses down.

Which casinos are not real money casinos?

There are so-called Social Casinos online where you can still win real money without risking anything.

Loteries Promotionnelles En Ligne Aux États-Unis

Alors que le jeu en ligne pour de l'argent réel n'est légal que dans quelques États pour le moment, la plupart des États américains proposent des sites de tirages au sort promotionnels en ligne. Par exemple, alors que Casinos en ligne à New York ne sera pas officiellement lancé avant au moins 2023, les joueurs peuvent gagner des prix en argent en jouant à des jeux de casino dans ces casinos sociaux.

Sites de casino de tirages au sort promotionnels opérer légalement dans la plupart des États-Unis. Ces plateformes offrent aux joueurs américains la possibilité de jouer à des jeux de casino en ligne et poker en ligne pour des prix en argent réel. Dans les États sans casinos en ligne réglementés, les sites de casino sociaux sont la meilleure option pour les joueurs à la recherche d'une expérience de jeu de casino authentique en ligne.

Pennsylvania Online Gambling

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is another organization that offers a valid US license. Established in 2019 when Governor Tom Wolf signed HB 271, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board regulates all casinos in the state, making their licensing public to ensure transparency.

Players can look on the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board website to view the 13 casinos currently licensed under it. Players can also contact this control board if they have a gambling problem and require assistance in self-excluding or help sites.

Players looking to contact the control board can do so by using the webmail form, emailing [email protected], or calling (717)- 346-8300. There are also patron complaints forms for players to fill out on the website at https://gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/?p=180.

Illinois Live Dealer Games 

People tend to trust a live dealer over a digital one, making live dealers a popular option at real-money online casinos. But because social casino users are playing for fun more often than not, there is not as much of a need for live dealers.

Social casino sites rarely offer live dealer games.

It is likely that real money online casinos that launch in Illinois could also offer live dealer games.

What are demo games?

Demo games are free-to-play versions of real money games. This allows you to test new games or try out a different game from what they’re used to before wagering real money.

Online Gambling Legality In Illinois

The State of Illinois has certainly brought up the legalization of online gambling on multiple occasions, but any such attempts thus far have died a Legislative death. States such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and (partially) Nevada have already done this, so we will see if Illinois follows suit given how liberal they usually seem to be when it comes to gambling.

The only problem with Illinois when it comes to the legalization and regulation of online gambling is that, like West Virginia, they might be concerned that being able to gamble from home could hurt the slot parlors which also hurts Lottery Commission proceeds. In both of these two states, if you just want to play slots or video Keno, gambling couldn’t possibly be more convenient. There’s usually a parlor seemingly within arm’s length unless you live absolutely in the middle of nowhere, or in a county that, for whatever reason, decided to outlaw them.

Either way, parlor operators would almost certainly be against such a measure because it would pull from their business and, quite probably, give business to online casino companies who also happen to be much larger than they are anyway. It’s not like a bar owner with a few video poker machines is going to be able to offer online gambling to the entire state.

The only law in Illinois that seems as though it could be applied to players committing unlawful gambling reads like this:

knowingly plays a game of chance or skill for money or other thing of value, unless excepted in subsection (b) of this Section; knowingly makes a wager upon the result of any game, contest, or any political nomination, appointment or election;

In any case, the law applies to any game that is not specifically authorized by the state. Since the state has yet to specifically authorize online gambling, online gambling would fall under the purview of this law. The result is theoretically a Class A Misdemeanor, but as far as we can tell, no resident in the Land of Lincoln has ever been arrested or fined for playing online in his/her own home and we would be absolutely shocked if that were to ever happen.

We will say that Illinois enforces their anti-gambling laws pretty strenuously when it comes to unlawful gambling taking place in a physical location, undoubtedly to protect its own financial interests. Here is a story in which a poker ring was busted that saw the arrest of 25 players.

You’re undoubtedly going to be better off gambling online from home than participating in any kind of illegal poker game or other place where illegal forms of gambling are going on. When it comes to physical gambling, Illinois has shown a willingness to arrest players and operators alike. Most states, though not all, would just let the players go.