Center for Gaming Research
UNLV
Illinois Gaming Summary
Background

Casinos

The Riverboat Gambling Act (Act) was enacted in February 1990, making Illinois the second state in the nation to legalize riverboat gambling. The Riverboat Gambling Act authorizes the Gaming Board to grant up to ten casino licenses. On September 11, 1991, the first riverboat casino began operations in Alton.

The Riverboat Gambling Act created the Illinois Gaming Board (Board). The five-member Board, appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, administers a regulatory and tax collection system for riverboat casino gambling in Illinois. The Board's staff performs audit, legal, enforcement, investigative and financial analysis activities to ensure the integrity of gambling in Illinois as mandated by the Riverboat Gambling Act. The Board's staff includes more than 75 direct agency employees, a detail of 65 Illinois State Police personnel.

Each riverboat gaming license authorizes up to 1,200 gaming positions and allows each licensee to operate up to two vessels at a single, specified docksite. Those casinos that operate two boats cannot have more than 1,200 gaming positions between both vessels. Patrons visiting the casinos must be 21 years of age to be admitted to gambling areas each operation. The Riverboat Gambling Act requires that all wagering in the casinos be cashless. Riverboat patrons are required to use tokens, chips or electronic cards for wagering.

These pages contain comparative yearly data for all riverboat casinos in Illinois, as well as links to detailed annual summaries.

Taxation: The Riverboat Gambling Act imposes two taxes on riverboat gambling operations, a wagering tax and a tax on admissions.

Effective August 23, 2005 the admissions tax was set at $2 a person for patrons of Casino Rock Island. For all other licensees the admissions tax was set at $3 per person.

Effective July 1, 2005 the wagering tax is as follows:

15 percent of Adjusted Gross Revenues (AGR) up to and including $25 million;
22.5 percent of the AGR in excess of $25 million but not exceeding $50 million;
27.5 percent of AGR in excess of $50 million but not exceeding $75 million;
32.5 percent of AGR in excess of $75 million but not in excess $100 million;
37.5 percent of AGR in excess of $100 million but not exceeding $150 million;
45 percent of AGR in excess of $150 million but not exceeding $200 million;
50 percent of AGR in excess of $200 million.

For more information about Illinois gaming regulation, see http://www.igb.state.il.us/.

Lotteries

Development: The first lottery tickets were sold in Illinois in July 1974.

Beneficiaries: The lottery contributes approximately 33 cents of every dollar wagered to the Common School Fund (state aid to schools).

For more information, see http://www.illinoislottery.com
Casino Gaming Statistics

The first table charts the number of casinos, admissions, adjusted gross revenue, win per person, tax, and the percentages of slot machine and table game revenue to the total revenue from 1991 until the present.

The second table charts slot machine data: number of devices, slot drop, slot revenue, win percentage, and average daily win per slot machine per day from 1991 to the present.

The third table charts table game data: number of tables, table drop, table revenue, win percentage, and average daily win per table per day from 1991 to the present.

General Information

Year
Casinos
Admissions
AGR ($)
Win per capita
Tax ($)
EGD ($)
EGD %
Table Games
Table %
1991
2
308,783
14,942,909
$48.39
3,606,148
7,610,402
50.93%
7,332,507
49.07%
1992
5
4,079,819
226,334,794
$55.48
53,426,597
132,028,601
58.33%
94,306,193
41.67%
1993
9
10,679,490
605,684,483
$56.71
142,495,876
371,554,919
61.34%
234,129,564
38.66%
1994
10
20,367,119
979,551,111
$48.09
236,644,461
645,246,666
65.9%
334,304,445
34.1%
1995
10
24,835,833
1,178,311,827
$47.44
285,334,031
809,931,246
68.7%
368,380,581
31.3%
1996
10
25,211,329
1,131,491,531
$44.88
276,720,964
809,483,729
71.5%
322,007,802
28.5%
1997
10
24,972,139
1,054,573,793
$42.23
260,859,037
779,173,843
73.9%
275,399,950
26.1%
1998
9
24,813,818
1,106,751,600
$44.60
336,899,568
846,713,368
76.5%
260,038,232
23.5%
1999
9
21,991,689
1,362,931,231
$61.97
418,797,333
1,074,761,812
78.9%
288,169,419
21.1%
2000
9
19,014,939
1,658,004,361
$87.19
512,213,123
1,349,209,657
81.4%
308,794,704
18.6%
2001
9
18,808,281
1,783,958,166
$94.85
555,204,313
1,492,943,407
83.7%
291,014,759
16.3%
2002
9
18,821,582
1,831,550,836
$97.31
666,101,823
1,544,570,005
84.3%
286,980,831
15.7%
2003
9
16,597,552
1,709,943,480
$103.02
719,858,219
1,458,047,707
85.3%
251,895,773
14.7%
2004
9
15,331,021
1,717,991,115
$112.06
802,161,018
1,481,833,702
86.3%
236,157,413
13.7%
2005
9
15,323,166
1,798,912,344
$117.40
749,745,417
1,567,466,239
87.1%
231,446,105
12.9%
2006
9
16,180,360
1,923,528,409
$118.88
830,239,764
1,690,205,814
87.9%
233,322,595
12.1%
2007
9
16,525,437
1,983,386,762
$120.02
833,884,371
1,749,412,378
88.2%
233,974,384
11.8%
2008
9
14,637,054
1,568,727,252
$107.18
566,743,917
1,369,061,084
87.2%
199,666,168
12.8%
2009
9
14,418,760
1,428,923,092
$99.10
495,395,953
1,254,031,656
87.76%
174,891,436
12.24%
2010
9
13,834,414
1,373,421,897
$99.28
466,073,453
1,201,876,124
87.51%
171,545,773
12.49%

2011

-

14,801,944

1,477,600,520

$99.82

489,422,453

1,271,902,264

86.08%

205,698,256

13.92%

2012

-

16,157,869

1,638,167,885

$101.39

574,336,421

1,376,356,459

84.02%

261,811,426

15.98%

2013

-

14,891,745

1,551,311,772

$104.17

536,699,138

1,283,465,374

82.73%

267,846,398

17.27%

2014

-

13,518,053

1,463,418,253

$108.26

500,600,310

1,192,557,896

81.49%

270,860,357

18.51%

2015

-

12,929,868

1,438,029,348

$111.22

488,038,623

1,160,086,697

80.67%

277,942,651

19.33%

2016

-

12,344,698

1,413,478,308

$114.50

477,992,638

1,118,645,656

79.14%

294,832,652

20.86%

 

 

Slot Breakdown by Year
Year
# machines
Slot drop($)
Win ($)
Win %
Win per machine
1991
470*
75,456,774
7,610,402
10.09%
$143.45
1992
1,696*
1,562,728,436
132,028,601
8.45%
$219.91
1993
4,296*
4,885,672,815
371,554,919
7.60%
$243.50
1994
6,688*
9,701,079,318
645,246,666
6.65%
$264.88
1995
7,742
13,091,504,954
809,931,246
6.19%
$288.39
1996
8,193
13,717,250,386
809,483,729
5.90%
$280.69
1997
8,205
13,433,825,269
779,173,843
5.80%
$272.10
1998
8,047
1,501,429,6405
846,713,368
5.64%
$288.28
1999
8,282
19,000,053,308
1,074,761,812
5.66%
$355.54
2000
8,882
23,498,854,167
1,349,209,657
5.74%
$415.04
2001
9,255
24,323,143,411
1,492,943,407
6.14%
$441.95
2002
9,550
24,272,859,443
1,544,570,005
6.4%
$443.11
2003
9,766
22,477,279,764
1,458,047,707
6.5%
$409.04
2004
9,908
22,529,277,694
1,481,833,702
6.6%
$408.63
2005
9,823
23,262,908,557
1,567,466,239
6.7%
$437.18
2006
9,888
24,101,839,242
1,690,205,814
7.0%
$468.32
2007
9,946
24,076,716,234
1,749,412,378
7.3%
$481.89
2008
9,955
18,152,605,454
1,369,061,084
7.5%
$375.75
2009
10,079
16,067,648,275
1,201,876,124
7.48%
$340.88
2010
10,302
14,916,138,894
1,201,876,124
8.06%
$319.63

*The total value for the number of machines is an average of monthly figures. The values for 1995 and on are end-of-the-year figures.

Table Breakdown by Year
Year
# tables
Table drop ($)
Win ($)
Win %
Win per table
1991
35*
35,232,512
7,332,507
20.81%
$1,853.98
1992
119*
404,097,577
94,306,193
23.34%
$2,239
1993
301*
1,093,107,176
234,129,564
21.42%
$2,191
1994
429*
1,685,042,153
334,304,445
19.84%
$2,136
1995
472
1,855,274,854
368,380,581
19.86%
$2,152
1996
464
1,692,287,972
322,007,802
19.03%
$1,972
1997
435
1,482,206,602
275,399,950
18.58%
$1,814
1998
407
1,405,770,918
260,038,232
18.50%
$1,750
1999
370
1,576,208,564
288,169,419
18.28%
$2,134.00
2000
362
1,737,882,027
308,794,704
17.77%
$2,331.00
2001
305
1,707,014,675
291,014,759
17.05%
$2614.00
2002
292
1,651,647,571
286,980,831
17.38%
$2,692.63
2003
258
1,462,777,125
251,895,773
17.22%
$2,674.90
2004
227
1,371,808,376
236,157,413
17.22%
$2,842.46
2005
233
1,341,783,144
231,446,105
17.25%
$2,721.45
2006
228
1,334,464,111
233,322,595
17.48%
$2,803.68
2007
219
1,334,069,385
233,974,384
17.54%
$2,927.06
2008
223
1,178,223,781
199,666,168
16.95%
$2,446.35
2009
238
1,008,997,744
174,891,436
17.33%
$2,013.25
2010
237
982,310,176
171,545,773
17.46%
$1,983.07
*The total value for the number of table games is an average of monthly figures. The values for 1995 and on are end-of-the-year figures.

Annual data (detailed): Illinois riverboats, 1991 - Illinois riverboats, 1992 - Illinois riverboats, 1993 - Illinois riverboats, 1994 - Illinois riverboats, 1995 - Illinois riverboats, 1996 - Illinois riverboats, 1997 - Illinois riverboats, 1998 - Illinois riverboats, 1999 - Illinois riverboats, 2000 - Illinois riverboats, 2001 - Illinois riverboats, 2002 - Illinois riverboats, 2003 - Illinois riverboats, 2004 - Illinois riverboats, 2005 - Illinois riverboats, 2006 - Illinois riverboats, 2007

 
Lottery statistics (fiscal year)

 

Year
Total Sales
Total Revenue
Prize Liabilities
Prize %
Net Revenue
Net %
2005
1,814,347,094
1,856,130,835
1,042,893,272
56.2%
621,565,720
33.5%
2006
1,965,156,425
1,964,263,326
1,158,208,870
58.1%
634,494,609
31.8%
2007
1,998,969,967
2,021,326,095
1,177,158,111
58.2%
633,300,578
31.3%
2008
2,057,269,827
2,089,089,632
1,226,067,472
58.7%
650,096,758
31.1%
2009
2,078,545,434
-
1,199,054,610
57.69%
630,157,564
30.32%
2010
2,191,420,517
-
1,313,223,327
59.79%
652,137,315
29.69%
2011
2,262,995,344
-
1,298,935,844
57.40%
690,112,328
30.50%
2012 2,682,374,000 - 1,620,405,000 60.41% 758,231,000 28.27%
2013 2,832,576,000 - 1,743,686,000 61.56% 819,100,000 28.92%
2014 2,802,310,000 - 1,791,777,000 63.94% 777,647,000 27.75%
2015 2,837,805,000 - 1,823,572,000 64.26% 743,756,000 26.21%
2016 2,862,056,000 - 1,837,402,000 64.20% 723,942,000 25.29%

Total sales reflects all money wagered on the lottery in the fiscal year in question. Total revenue is total sales plus interest earned on the lottery fund balance and miscellaneous revenue sources . Prize liability is the total amount of prize money paid back to winners. Net Revenue (before operating expenses) is the total revenue minus vendor and retailer commissions and prize payouts. Prize and net revenue percentages are taken from the total revenues.
This project was made possible by a grant from the UNLV Libaries Advisory Board and greatly enhanced by the diligent work of Saro Oknaian.

For information about how to contribute to UNLV Center for Gaming Research and Special Collections development efforts, go here.

 

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Last modified Tuesday, 06-Dec-2022 10:30:30 PST