The ruling by the Supreme Court in 2018 placed the power of online gambling in the hands of each individual state in the US. That means it is now up to each state to legalize online gambling and there have been some changes to the regulations recently in Illinois. However, at the time of writing, the answer to the question, ‘will online casinos work in Illinois?’ has to be no but do not despair.
In March 2020, online sports betting became legal in the Land of Lincoln. Illinois residents now have access to some of the leading online sportsbooks, including BetRivers, PointsBet, William Hill, DraftKings, and FanDuel. That is great news and the first sportsbook in Illinois was FanDuel. Having already offered real money fantasy sports to the public, FanDuel were in a great position to launch their sportsbook in Illinois as soon as the announcement was made to make sports betting legal in the state. The other brands quickly followed suit and there is now an exciting array of sports betting options in Illinois.
In terms of online casinos, we hope to have some positive news to bring you in the near future. At the time of writing, Illinois state law prohibits any form of online casinos from accepting wagers. Fortunately, there are other options available for those who would like to play casino games and there is a strong land-based casino scene in the state. The Prairie State has a long history of riverboat casinos and it is still possible today to enjoy playing your favorite casino games onboard one of the riverboat casinos, which is a fantastic experience.
However, question marks remain about the introduction of online casinos in Illinois but there could be some good news just around the corner. Senate Bill 690 has recently been approved and that will see the construction of six new casinos in the cities of Rockford, Chicago, Danville, Waukegan, Williamson County, and Cook County.
This, coupled with the introduction of legal online sports betting, suggests legal online casino gaming can only be a matter of time for the residents of Illinois.
If the bill highlighted above is approved, it could lead to the introduction of online table games, online slots, and online poker in the state. Land-based casinos and racetracks will have the opportunity to apply for a casino license at a fee of $500,000 and this will allow them to use three online skins per property.
In the meantime, it is legal to participate in online sweepstakes casinos. It is possible to play different types of online slots, with Global Poker, Chumba Casino, Funzpoints, Luckyland Slots being among the best online sweepstakes casinos currently available in Illinois. You play games for free, with a chance of winning prizes and by using a dual-currency system, it is possible to play online casino games and poker legally.
Sure, legal sportsbooks in the state are great fun but hopefully, we will not have to wait long to see the introduction of online casinos in Illinois.
