Online Gambling Illinois Guide – Best Illinois Gambling Sites

Offshore Gambling Sites in Illinois

One of the best options for players in Illinois is to use Illinois sportsbooks that are classed as offshore. These are not based inside the state – instead, they are located elsewhere, outside of America, and they hold a license and are regulated under those jurisdictions.

These sites can offer any type of gambling with no restrictions, as they don’t need to stick to the Illinois rules to keep their license. Although reputation is critical with an offshore gambling site, they need to have proved themselves over time, which we take seriously when comparing and ranking the sites on offer.

Illinois Sports Betting

Thanks to a bill passed mid-2019, sports betting is now legal in Illinois. Horse race betting has been legal since the 1920s and is available at five of the local racetracks and 37 licensed off-track betting venues. Engaging in sports betting via offshore sportsbooks is illegal, although many of those platforms accept Illinois residents.

Can I play daily fantasy sports in Illinois?

Yes, daily fantasy sports are legal to play in Illinois. Before the United States Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, daily fantasy sports was a hot-button topic all over the country. In Illinois, the state's Supreme Court rules that daily fantasy sports are contests of skill and are not illegal under state law. Now that Illinois sports betting is legal, it is a mute topic. Several of Illinois' betting apps also have daily fantasy sports offered on the same mobile app or website.

Illinois Authorizes Sports Betting & Six New Casinos

June 29, 2019

Courtesy of State Journal Register

Gambling has been greatly expanded in Illinois after a $45B infrastructure plan was signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker yesterday.

The new law named "Rebuild Illinois" is designed to create 540,000 new jobs from state-financed construction projects for transportation, education, high-speed internet, healthcare and the environment.

The Rebuild Illinois Law will be paid for by new revenues from expanded gambling, a 19-cents hike in the state gasoline tax, and $1 more tax on a pack of cigarettes.

The new revenues from gambling will come from legalization of sports betting and licensing fees and tax revenues from six new casinos.

SPORTS BETTING

Illinois Gaming Board will licensee and regulate all sports betting within the state. The type of license and its rules for operation will be based on the business of the applicant. Upon licensing all successful applicant may immediately operate their sports book online.

Licenses for "brick and mortar" businesses will be issued to all qualified casinos, racinos and sports venues with over 17,000 spectator seats.

All wagering accounts must be set up at a licensed sport book facility during the first 18 months.

Three online licenses will be issued to web operators. The first will be issued after 18 months of brick and mortar operation.

The Illinois Lottery will install and operate sports betting terminals at retail locations with lottery kiosks. There will be 2,500 lottery sports betting terminals in the first year and another 2,5000 terminals added in the second year.

The state has prohibited betting on Illinois college teams.

NEW CASINOS

Under the new law the total number of state-sponsored gambling positions is increased by 36,000 on top of the existing 44,000. These "gambling positions" are defined as seats to place a bet. New casinos will be allowed up to 2,000 positions.

The Illinois Gaming Board will issue gaming licenses to six new casinos. Each will be a privately-owned, land-based casino regulated by the gaming board.

A maximum number of gambling positions is specified under this law for each of the six new casinos:

1. ChicagoMaximum 4,000 gambling positions

2. DanvilleMaximum 2,000 gambling positions

3. RockfordMaximum 2,000 gambling positions

4. South SuburbsMaximum 2,000 gambling positions

5. Walker's BluffMaximum 1,200 gambling positions

6. WaukeganMaximum 2,000 gambling positions

RACINOS (Racetrack Casinos)

The three Illinois horsetracks will be licensed to add casino games. Two new racinos are allowed under the new law. The number of live racing dates will be increased at each track.

VIDEO GAMING MACHINES

The Illinois Gaming Board will license up to 7,000 video gambling machines at independent locations across the state. The maximum number of terminals is 5 per location. Bets are limited to $2 to $4.

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Illinois Gambling Laws

Illinois gambling laws license and regulate numerous forms of gambling in the state. This includes pari-mutuel betting, charitable bingo, lotteries, and casino gaming. These forms of gambling are specifically exempted from state law.

It is a misdemeanor to gamble in an unlicensed establishment in Illinois as either a player or an operator. Subsequent convictions fall under a Class 4 felony.

Illinois casinos operate under the Riverboat Gambling Act, which passed in 1990. These boats were required to be on the water. They had to leave the dock for two hours for the first ten years of operation. Casinos may now be more traditional and do not have to leave the dock. This change of law occurred in 1999.

Bingo operators must be charities. A $200 per year license is required. The maximum prize per contest is $500. The maximum prize pool per day is $2,250.

Illinois makes it a gambling crime to operate a game of chance over the Internet. The only exception to this is the Illinois Lottery. The state lottery is permitted to sell lotto tickets on its website.

The minimum legal gambling age in Illinois is 21 years for casino and bar video poker patrons. Lottery and racing have a minimum gambling age of 18 years.

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Helpful Resources

Illinois Council on Problem Gambling

Illinois Gaming Board

State of Illinois Department of Revenue Charity Gaming

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Home Illinois Online Gambling & Betting

Sports Betting

Online betting is the only form of online gambling legal in Illinois. However, Illinois sports betting apps didn’t get off to a good start. The gambling laws in Illinois required an in-person registration at first at a retail casino or race track. The law also stated that operators were not allowed to enter the state without an existing contract with a land based casino partner. However, the global health situation forced governor J.B. Pritzker’s hand in the summer of 2020. Pritzker signed off an executive order making online gambling legal without in person registration, allowing operators like DraftKings, FanDuel and BetRivers to start taking bets. Unfortunately, the mandate was re-instituted in 2021, before being completely disbanded on March 5th 2022.

Hockey

Of course, being so far North means that Illinois’ destiny would be entwined with the NHL. Chicago is home to one of the Original Six NHL teams: the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks have an impressive six Stanley Cups to their name, including three victories since 2010. They currently share their United Center home with the Chicago Bulls. The sheer concentration of some of the biggest names in American sports shows that Chicago is a sports-mad city. The Chicago Wolves and the Rockford IceHogs also represent the state in the AHL.

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Hollywood Casino – Aurora

Hollywood Casino Aurora is a floating gambling venue with table games, slots & poke. The venue also hosts live music and several dining options.

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Using FanDuel

The sign-up process at FanDuel is fairly simple and straightforward and ultimately you’ll have it over within a few minutes. You need to note that when signing up on an operator’s site, you will be prompted to enter personal and financial information and provide a few documents to verify your account. The sooner you get this done, the sooner you’ll be on your way to claiming your welcome offer and placing your bets.

Fanduel also has a refer-a-friend program which you can participate in once you join the sportsbook. If you have a lot of friends who are enthusiastic sports fans like you are, why not get them in on the action and add some credit to your sports betting account.

FanDuel has always been one of the best sports betting operators in the industry. This is because they always keep their customers in mind. This is evident when you log onto the site and notice that it is fast, user-friendly, and most importantly, clutter-free. So the user experience is nothing short of pleasant. They also have quite an extensive Live betting offering which no doubt makes for one of the most exciting ways to bet on the market.

Online Gambling in Illinois

Unlike most of the other US states, Illinois does address some of the issues of online gambling directly. Section 28 of the Illinois code mentions that it’s illegal for people staying in Illinois to operate unlicensed online gambling businesses. However, the law doesn’t list any punishments for participating in online games as a player, which is the reason why most experts agree that playing on offshore sites is perfectly legal for Illinois residents.

There’s a significant push to legalize online gambling and expand land-based gambling with bill SB-0007, which was introduced in 2017. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Terry Link, Dave Syverson, Mattie Hunter, and Donne E. Trotter in the Senate and Rep. Robert Rita, Rita Mayfield, Chad Hays, and Litesa E. Wallace in the House. The proceedings are prolonged, and there’s significant opposition from the local casinos, so it’s impossible to make any predictions regarding specific provisions or the final shape of the bill. The last action on the legislation occurred in May 2018 when the House re-referred it to the Rules Committee.

Illinois Sports Betting Revenue

Online sports betting has been live in Illinois since June 2020. Since that time, revenue has continued to trend upwards, feeding money directly into the state coffers. Here’s a snapshot of what’s been happening over the past few months:

Illinois Online Gambling

Betting

Casino

Horse Racing

Poker

DFS

eSports

You are allowed to bet on sports, play the lottery, and bet on DFS online in Illinois. You are not allowed to play at online casino websites or poker platforms yet.

Illinois online gambling is legal for sports bettors and horse racing fans, but not yet for casino enthusiasts or poker players. Anyone in the Prairie State who wants to play casino or poker games can only do so at the famous riverboat casinos that operate here, but many hope that this will change at some point in the future. Only time will tell whether or not such optimism is warranted.

In this Illinois Online Gambling Guide, we will provide an overview of what forms of betting you can enjoy in the state. Where online gambling is legal, we will tell you exactly what’s on offer and how to get involved. In those areas of interest where online gambling isn’t yet legal, we’ll tell you what the offline alternatives are – if any – so that you can enjoy your favorite pastimes in person.

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 grows longer each month.

Riverboat casinos have been fixtures in the Land of Lincoln for more than 30 years. There are 11 properties scattered throughout Illinois, although most are around Chicago and St. Louis, the latter across the Mississippi River in Missouri and Iowa.

Alongside the riverboats are scads of locations with video lottery terminals (VLTs). VLTs 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 most Illinois riverboat casinos, is available at racetracks and OTBs and may even be available at major sports arenas throughout the state.

There are seven online sportsbooks in Illinois right now. More sports betting apps should enter Illinois now that the in-person registration requirement is expired as of March 7, 2022.

Finally, it is also possible to play the Illinois Lottery, bet on horse races and engage in daily fantasy sports through your mobile devices and computers in Illinois.

Chicago Red Stars

The Chicago Red Stars is an incredible NWSL team playing at SeatGeek Stadium. It won the league championship in its inaugural 2013 season and added a second championship in 2017.

Deposit Match Bonus

DraftKings Sportsbook and BetRivers are among the Illinois sportsbooks that offer a deposit match bonus for new players. The DraftKings Sportsbook bonus matches 20% of your initial deposit, up to a max of $1,000 in bonus credit. You would need to deposit $5,000 or more to be eligible for the full $1,000 in bonus credits.

The DraftKings Sportsbook bonus comes with a 25x playthrough requirement, meaning you unlock $1 of bonus credits for every $25 you wager.

The BetRivers bonus comes as a 100% deposit match up to $250, with a 1x playthrough requirement. While the $250 is less than the DraftKings offer, the 100% match and 1x playthrough are much more player friendly.

Illinois Sports Teams

The city has given all Chicago stadiums the go-ahead to operate an Illinois sportsbook at or near their stadium. Here are some of the most popular sports teams you’ll find in the city and the state.

DraftKings Sportsbook

Another of the most popular online sportsbooks in Illinois, DraftKings Sportsbook partnered with East. St. Louis property Casino Queen in order to enter the IL sports betting market.

The partnership resulted in a rebranding of the entire casino, now known as DraftKings at Casino Queen. Much like every other state in which it operates, DraftKings Sportsbook stands as one of the most popular platforms to bet on sports in Illinois.

DraftKings is the official sports betting and daily fantasy sports partner of the Chicago Cubs.

Games Available at Social Casinos in Illinois

Social Casinos are good to go and offer almost all the games, you might ask. Playing with online players is a lot more fun when you have nothing at stake.

• Table Games: Blackjack is a runaway favorite when it comes to table games. There aren't many options available either; apart from blackjack, you can enjoy Russian Roulette, keno, and Caribbean stud poker.

• Slot Games: Luckyland slots are the leading social casino for playing slots. They have the most extensive collection of slot games. Slots offer progressive jackpots as land-based casinos do.

• Online Poker: Currently, Global Poker is the only sweepstakes casino in Illinois that offers online poker. You can play no-limit Texas hold 'em, pot-limit Omaha, and Crazy Pineapple tournaments.

Daily Fantasy Sports

DFS is not illegal or legal in Illinois, as the laws regarding gambling in Illinois do not address it. In 2015, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued an opinion about daily fantasy sports contests being a form of illegal gambling. However, DraftKings and FanDuel took the risk and continued their operations. So far, no law has been passed to regulate either, and now that online gambling is legal, there is a relatively small chance of DFS ever being banned in the state.

Baseball

From that mid-90s Bulls team, we know that Chicago residents are no strangers to amazing sporting stories. The most recent one came in 2017 when the Chicago Cubs ended their record 108-year MLB World Series drought. Millions of people flooded the streets of Chicago, in one of the biggest parties in sporting history. The Cubs home in Wrigley Field is one of the most well-known in Major League Baseball. That victory brought the Cubs World Series total up to 3, tying them with their local rivals the Chicago White Sox. The heated crosstown rivalry between the two teams means that there will be a lot of Chicago residents just waiting to bet against their rivals as soon as legal sports betting is introduced. There are also almost a dozen more minor league teams scattered around the state.

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Overall, IL created an environment with a somewhat high barrier for entry for operators (unlike New Jersey and Colorado). That will make things tougher for consumers since they’ll have fewer betting options.

Vermont

State Sports Betting Restrictions

❌  No bettors under 21 years of age

❌  No mobile betting on games featuring in-state schools

❌  No betting on individual performances like player props in games featuring in-state college teams

❌  No betting on high school sporting events

❌  Sporting officials (coaches, referees) or players with a vested interest in a given game or season cannot bet on their events

The Future of Illinois Online Gambling

Online gambling in Illinois has gotten off to a good start with the legalization of online sports betting and the recently introduced ability to register remotely with sportsbooks.

However, there is still plenty of room for expansion, and many Illinoisans would be very happy to see online casinos and online poker rooms being made legal in the years ahead. Whether or not that will happen, only time will tell, but we don’t expect any developments to be made in that direction in the immediate future.

5. PointsBet Sportsbook – Hawthorne Race Course (near downtown Chicago)

One of the newest and most innovative sports betting companies in the world will soon launch its sportsbook in partnership with a Chicago landmark, creating the potential for another major player in Illinois gambling.

PointsBet, an Australian-based gaming company that entered the U.S. in New Jersey in 2019, will open retail and online sportsbooks as part of the venerable Hawthorne Race Course, located less than 10 miles from Downtown Chicago. The novel approach to betting combined with one of the Chicagoland area’s most convenient gaming options has Illinois betters excited for another new sportsbook that could take its first bet before the end of 2020.

Along with the full array of traditional pre-game bets such as point spreads and totals, PointsBet allows “points betting,” which pays winners more for big wins – but also punishes big whiffs. For example, if betting a team to cover as a 3-point favorite but that team wins by 10 (a margin of seven), the payout will be even larger than a fixed-odds bet (though the opposite is true; should that team lose by 10 in this scenario, the player must remit more money).