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Senate Bill 690 expands the number of casinos permitted in Illinois. Illinois is one of the many states that have legalized sports betting. A few months ago, the state legislature allowed a bill to pass that made online and physical betting, legal. The next question obviously is about online gambling. Will we see online gambling in the state? It looks like it will only be a matter of time before casinos, and lottery shops will become par for the course. Adding to this mix will be every means possible to enable users to get to online betting.
Canny entrepreneurs have found to circumvent the ‘no land-based casino’ rule that Illinois has. To that end, there are riverboat casinos that are very popular with the locals. The other forms of gambling allowed in Illinois are racetrack, charitable gambling, racing, commercial, and video lottery terminals. Senate Bill 690 will allow for brick-and-mortar casinos, fantasy sports and legal sports betting.
Conservative estimates put betting terminals in 2,500 lottery stores. It’s likely to go up to a cool 5,000 stores. Licenses need to be applied by racetracks and casinos and they don’t come cheap. They can also apply for online sports betting too. This is an important point seeing how close to 80% of sports betting is directed online anyway.
Online gambling is also about providing opportunities for others, especially technology providers. Let’s also not forget about the many international and national brands that will want to get in on the act.
It’s not too much of a stretch to see how online gambling can soon become a thing in the state. Online poker has always been very popular with citizens from Illinois and it is believed that with this Bill getting approved, the legalization of online gambling activity within the state is going to likely follow in the coming years. Although, poker aficionados shouldn’t hold their breath either because with 2019 nearly over, the best chance of legalizing poker in the state wouldn’t come before the new legislative session starting in January 2020.
Think about it – smartphones and devices abound, everyone has one and placing a bet online is an almost intuitive activity. There are all sorts of bets that you can place online. Apart from the obvious picking of winners, there are also the over/under bet types with its advantages. Online betting also allows for in-game wagers too.
Online betting is possible, provided casinos establish a virtual sports book for a cool $10 million fee with a $1 million fee every four years. Apart from this, casinos will also have to part with their earnings as a 15% tax. Online betting doesn’t come cheap. If things go well, sports betting can be an actual thing in 2020, less than a few months away.
Illinois will need to use technology to also put safeguards in place. Gambling comes with a serious problem of addiction too. Casinos have bars and caps on the number of bets, online gambling sites should have limits on time spent and wagers too. There is a lot of research being done on the ill effects of gambling. As younger and younger people have access to smart devices and internet, it will only be a matter of time before they discover online gambling. It’s important to safeguard the interests of everyone involved.
