- Technically, there is no legal online poker Illinois supports, as there is no law that has been put into place to legalize online poker action throughout the state. However, there is also nothing on the books to make poker illegal either, which means that online poker throughout Illinois exists in something of a legal gray area.
- That aside, many would argue that current Illinois law de facto prohibits individuals from playing poker at an Illinois poker site or otherwise gambling online, as it generally prohibits any form of wagering that is not explicitly permitted by law. Illinois Gambling Laws: Fun Facts There is no tribal gambling in Illinois. Riverboat gambling is.
- Illinois Online Poker Legalization
- Michigan Online Poker Legislation 2019
- Illinois Online Poker Legislation
- Michigan Online Poker Legislation 2018
Lawmakers in the Illinois Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that would regulate online casino gaming and daily fantasy sports.
State Senators signed off on the plan by a 42-10 vote, moving the bill to the House for consideration. House lawmakers will likely meet sometime this month to discuss the provisions of the measure that moved quickly through the legislature this week.
Under the measure, HB 479, existing casinos in the state would be the groups allowed to offer casino games over the internet. According to report from the Chicago Tribune, casinos in the state don’t want online gaming limited to just fantasy sports, as was the case last year.
In 2015, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, like her counterparts in several other jurisdictions, said that DFS sites ran afoul of gambling law. The state is eyeing tax revenue from DFS and online casino regulation to give a boost to its coffers.
According to the bill, lawmakers have found “that Illinois residents participate in illegal online gambling on unregulated Internet websites operated by offshore operators who are not subject to regulation or taxation in the United States. Neither federal nor Illinois laws provide sufficient consumer protections for Illinois residents who play games of chance or skill on these illegal websites, nor does the State realize any benefits from the revenues generated nor jobs created by illegal online gaming.”
Lawmakers in the Illinois Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that would regulate online casino gaming and daily fantasy sports. State Senators signed off on the plan by a 42-10 vote, moving. As the matter stands, online poker and online casino gambling are not legal or illegal in Illinois. After the Department of Justice said such gaming could be regulated in an intra-state manner, many American states have passed required legislation. Illinois has not considered an online poker bill or online casino bill so far.
The Division of Internet Gaming would be created within the Illinois Gaming Board, and it would be tasked with issuing the five-year licenses.
Licenses would cost $10 million and would be an advance payment of taxes, which would be 15 percent of revenue. The Division could also enter into compacts for online poker with other U.S. states. Currently only Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have online casino gaming. Pennsylvania is also considering the activity.
Online poker in Illinois could provide a big boost to live games. Through the first three months of 2017, the Illinois poker market was $3.34 million, down about nine percent compared to the $3.68 million raked during the same period last year.
There are about 40 poker tables in the state.
Illinois Online Poker Law
Like a train hauling cattle through an ancient Chicago rail yard, legal online poker is inching its way toward implementation in Illinois. But that train has a few stops to make before it gets to the end of the line, where people can play online poker from their own homes all across the state of Illinois.
In 2013, Senate President John Cullerton introduced a gambling expansion bill that would increase the number of casinos in Illinois by five. It also included a sweeping online gambling bill that, if passed, would have made online gambling, including online poker, legal.
Getting people to agree with any type of gambling expansion is a lot like feeding them pills. That pill was way too big even for the moderate progressive Illinois General Assembly and its liberal governor Pat Quinn. Quinn publicly expressed his reservations about online casino gambling. Almost immediately, the online gambling portions of the bills were stripped. The bill died anyway, thanks to infighting as to where the proceeds from gambling expansion would go.
Illinois is facing both education- and pension-funding crises. Once all the backroom negotiations are done — the 2013 bill was somewhat rushed, and Cullerton’s colleagues felt it was sprung on them, particularly the online-gambling components — casino gambling will occur in Illinois.
That’s the first stop, and it should pass in 2014. Chicago should have a major card room and casino sometime in 2015, and Illinois would have four other casinos around the state. This will improve its poker community drastically. For now, the state only has a few dozen legal poker tables. Compare this to Pennsylvania, which has about the same number of residents, but supports more than 250 tables.
Cullerton’s bill called for the state’s lottery system to run online games, including poker. A separate bill that also died in committee in 2013 would have allowed people to play the lottery through the Internet.
Those are called baby steps. As other states surrounding Illinois begin to go live, look for Illinois to move ahead with online poker. Cullerton, who is one of the most powerful members of the General Assembly, promised to break out the online gambling portion of the bill and introduce it separately in 2014.
When Will Online Poker be Legal in Illinois?
Although an online poker bill is off the legislative table for 2013, expect a standalone online poker bill to be introduced and passed by its General Assembly by 2015. However, it could be as late as 2016, depending on how fast other states act, and how desperate the state’s officials are to fill in spending gaps. But it will almost definitely happen.
How Big is Illinois’s Online Poker Market?
Illinois Online Poker Legalization
With 12.8 million residents, Illinois is the fifth-most-populous state. With about 8.6 million people over the age of 21, Illinois’s potential online-poker market sits at about 860,000 (recent market studies suggest about 10 percent of the population played real-money poker before Black Friday).
This puts Illinois in the same category as Pennsylvania and Florida, making all three states some of the most lucrative online poker markets in the world. All the residents can do at this point is … wait.