9 hours ago To wring maximum revenue, the casino has to be close to the areas people already are and want to be. Chicago casino must be located near downtown Skip to main content. New casino licenses located in Cook County — where downtown Chicago is — would require an upfront payment of $30,000 per gaming position, a figure that turns into a potential $120 million payment should a downtown Chicago casino utilize the full 4,000 positions made available per the expansion bill.
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- Casinos In Chicago
Types of Casinos in Chicago
All Chicago casinos are on riverboats. The riverboats do not cruise and they are either housed on barges, or on boats that remain dockside. Also, one of the casinos in Chicago (Rivers Casino)is built over a shallow pit filled with a few inches of water.
Locations of Chicago Area Casinos
There are nine Chicago casinos in total: five of them are located in Illinois and four are within a short driving distance in nearby Indiana.
Casinos Near Downtown Chicago
There is no Chicago casino downtown. The Chicago casino near O'Hare airport is the Rivers and the closest casino to downtown Chicago is actually a tie between the Rivers and the Horseshoe whichis in East Chicago, Indiana. Both are about 17 miles from downtown Chicago.
The casinos in Illinois are not open 24 hours, but the Chicago area casinos in Indiana are open on a round-the-clock basis.
All nine Chicago casinos are non-smoking and, unless otherwise noted, all offer slots, video poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, and three-card poker. Some Illinois casinos also offer: let itride, baccarat, mini-baccarat, poker, Ultimate Texas hold 'em, Caribbean stud poker, Mississippi stud, pai gow poker, and four card poker.
Gambling Laws in Chicago
The payback percentages on electronic gaming machines at all Illinois casinos are released as a matter of public record. Just click here to see a list of slot machine payback statistics for all Illinois casinos.
The payback percentages on electronic gaming machines at all Indiana casinos (riverboats and pari-mutuels) are released as a matter of public record. Just click here to see a list of slot machine payback statistics for all Indiana casinos.
If you want to order a drink while playing in one of the Chicago casinos, be aware that gaming regulations do not allow casinos in Illinois, nor Indiana, to provide free alcoholic beverages.The minimum gambling age is 21 for all Chicago casinos.
Also, you should be aware that If you win a jackpot of $1,200 or more at an Indiana casino, they will withhold 3.4% of your winnings for the Indiana Department of Revenue. You might be able toget some of that money refunded by filing a state income tax return. The $1,200 threshold would also apply to any cash prizes won in casino drawings or tournaments.
List of Casinos in Chicago
Shown below is a list of all casinos in Chicago. Click on a casino name to see a page of detailed information about that particular Chicago area casino.
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For more information on visiting casinos in Chicago, you can contact the Illinois Bureau of Tourism at (312) 567-8500 or visit their website at www.choosechicago.com
The city of Chicago issued a request for information (RFI) on Aug. 27 to seek creative ideas for its coveted downtown casino project.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to hear strategies from casino operators and real estate developers.
However, there is plenty to figure out.
According to Lightfoot, a downtown casino could be a massively profitable endeavor for the city.
“After securing favorable legislation that had eluded us for decades, Chicago can finally pursue a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring a casino to our city, generating hundreds of millions in new gaming revenues to shore up the city’s pension obligations and drive huge levels of infrastructure funding in Illinois as well as creating thousands of new and much-needed jobs for local residents.
This is the right time to begin having these discussions as we continue to lay the foundation to make a strong recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The biggest question to start with is where the casino should be located.
The official RFI, which you can read in full here, also solicits the community for comment on the following:
- Requirements for operating a temporary casino.
- Recommendations on the size and scope of a gaming complex.
- Amenities that would help to enhance revenue.
- How to address COVID-19 as part of the development.
- Best approaches toward community engagement.
Responses from the public must be emailed to the city of Chicago by Oct.21.
Location complications
Lightfoot suggested five casino locations in January. They were:
- Harborside
- Michael Reese
- Pershing and State
- Roosevelt and Kostner
- US Steel
All five locations are on the south or west sides of the city. Lightfoot insists the list is not definitive, but Illinois Gov.J.B. Pritzker supports those locations to spur economic development.
Industry experts, however, believe these will be the least profitable areas. They’ve advocated for a location close to or in the heart of downtown.
The thinking is that it would be more easily accessible to tourists and close to high-quality hotels. Last summer, a state-mandated consultant said that a centrally located casino could rake in $1.2 billion per year, nearly triple Illinois‘ most profitable casino at the moment.
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Expect location to be a central part of this process, because it will directly impact revenue. There may be competing agendas at play here. However, it’s notable that Lightfoot explicitly mentions Chicago’s pension obligations in the statement.
Lightfoot has helped make Chicago casino project feasible
Originally, the Illinois gaming bill imposed an effective tax rate of 72% for a Chicago casino.
A feasibility study conducted by Union Gaming Analytics deemed it “impossible” to develop a profitable casino with that burden.
As a result, Lightfoot’s team pushed for a legislative fix in Springfield. Here are the new tax rates on slot revenue:
- Up to and including $25 million: 12% to the state and 10.5% to the city of Chicago
- $25,000,001 to $50,000,000: 16% to IL and 14% to Chicago
- $50,000,001 to $75,000,000: 20.1% to IL and 17.4% to Chicago
- $75,000,001 to $100,000,000: 21.4% to IL and 18.6% to Chicago
- $100,000,001 to $150,000,000: 22.7% to IL and 19.8% to Chicago
- $150,000,001 to $225,000,000: 24.1% to IL and 20.9% to Chicago
- $225,000,001 to $1 billion: 26.8% to IL and 23.2% to Chicago
- Over $1 billion: 40% to IL and 34.7% to Chicago
The tax rates themselves didn’t change much, but the tier thresholds did.
Previously, there was a gaudy 74.7% tax on revenue from slots above $200 million. Now, that threshold is $1 billion.
Downtown Chicago Map
Current list of Illinois casinos
The closest casino to downtown Chicago at the moment is Rivers Casino in Des Plaines. Here are the additional nine Illinois casinos:
Casinos In Chicago Downtown
- Argosy Casino Alton
- DraftKings at Casino Queen
- Grand Victoria Casino Elgin
- Harrah’s Joliet
- Harrah’s Metropolis
- Hollywood Casino Aurora
- Hollywood Casino Joliet
- Jumer’s Casino & Hotel
- Par-A-Dice Casino
Six new casinos were approved in the 2019 bill, including the Chicago location.
Closest Casino To Downtown Chicago
For what it’s worth, a Chicago casino is likely a long way off. The press release refers to the RFI as “a first step.”
Casinos In Chicago
A least it’s a step, nonetheless.