Politics & Government

Find Out What Illinois Casinos Want to Do Now

What are Illinois casinos proposing now?




By Brian Slupski

Illinois' 10 casinos want to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The push for round-the-clock, never-ending gambling is being pushed by the gaming industry in a plan submitted to the Illinois Gaming Board, the newspaper reported.

Currently, Illinois casinos are limited to 22 hours of operation, WKMS reported.

Illinois passed the Riverboat Gambling Act in 1990 and the first riverboat casino began operating in 1991 in Alton. When first approved, the riverboats were in part justified as a "historical" tourist attraction and the boats actually were required to cruise Illinois waterways. That requirement was later dropped.

The historical riverboat pretense was dropped altogether with the land-based Rivers Casino which opened in Des Plaines in 2011 and has become Illinois' highest grossing casino. However, the Rivers Casino was, according to the Tribune, built over a pit with a few inches of water to comply with state law.


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