Illinois Slot Machines & Video Gambling Laws for Business Owners

The Illinois Gaming Board provides access to gaming performance and revenue reports on its website. There are 3 types of gaming reports available to the public, Statewide, Municipality, and Establishment. The Establishment report outlines data that illustrates the total revenue earned from video slot machines at locations such as bars, restaurants, gaming parlors, truck stops, and fraternal and veteran organizations.

This type of report also outlines other data such as total slot machines, Net Terminal Income, municipality, and license numbers. All Illinois gaming reports include key performance indicators that display the performance of the video slot machines in your establishment. For example, the Amount Played metric is a summary of the total amount of money played by customers at your Illinois slot machines. On the other hand, the Amount Won metric summarizes the total amount of money awarded to customers that participated in video gambling.

According to the video gambling laws in Illinois, only Licensed Terminal Handlers have the authority to perform maintenance or repair projects on an Illinois gaming system. As a J&J Gaming partner, our 24/7 service support line is always available. Should you experience any problems with your video gaming machines, we’re just a phone call away. A Licensed Terminal Handler will be in contact to troubleshoot the issue immediately, but for more in-depth issues, a licensed terminal handler will be dispatched to your location. We maintain an average maintenance response time of one hour to make sure that we get your location back to earning revenue as quickly as possible.

All establishments that choose to participate in video gambling in Illinois are required to have at least one staff member that is over the age of 21 to monitor the game room. This individual will be tasked with the responsibility of prohibiting gambling activities to anyone that is under the age of 21. Surveillance systems cannot be used in place of a staff member for monitoring purposes.

At J&J Gaming we provide a full analysis of your business, right at your fingertips. With our client portal, J&J Connect, establishment owners can review in-depth reporting and analytics on their business, while gaining total insight into their performance, growth, and success! J&J invested in backend reporting software with the most detailed reporting in the industry, down to the hour. Compared to the competition, J&J brings you all the details to understand your business and industry trends at the touch of a button.

Review multiple reports from your location snapshot and weekly Video Gaming Terminal (VGT) performance report to Trailing VGT and Net Terminal Income (NTI)Trends to learn more about your business!

Illinois gambling laws only permit legal video gambling to occur at times based on your local municipality’s liquor license ordinance. On the other hand, certified truck stops that do not have a liquor license are allowed to operate Illinois gaming machines 24/7.

No. Each municipality in Illinois has the authority to allow or prohibit video slot machines and gambling. If your restaurant or bar is located in an area that prohibits slot machines, you will not be able to offer games or gambling services to customers at your address. On the other hand, establishments in unincorporated locations of Illinois will have to abide by the Illinois video gambling regulations that have been implemented by the local county board.

In addition, all local government bodies in Illinois are given an opportunity to accept or decline the usage of Illinois video gaming machines. The Illinois Gaming Board provides a listing of each local municipality and its eligibility to participate in video gambling activities.

A representative at the Illinois Gaming Board will send a message to the email address provided in the initial application that will outline the process of renewing your Illinois Video Gaming License. The information in your application needs to be kept current to stay compliant (i.e., state & Local Liquor License expiration dates, home address, phone numbers, etc.).

Fortunately, as a J&J Gaming partner, our Compliance Team consistently updates your information to stay compliant. Furthermore, we offer friendly reminders on gaming license renewal through the J&J Connect client portal. The establishment owner only needs to go online, pay the renewal fee, and print the updated license. As an additional service, J&J can collect a $100 check from an establishment and submit on your behalf. Similarly, we provide reminders on state liquor license renewals.

Under the current Illinois video gambling laws from the Illinois Gaming Board, all video gaming locations are required to pay the yearly Illinois gaming license renewal fee prior to the expiration date. If you forget to pay this fee, the slot machines at your bar or restaurant will be deactivated, and you are given a total of 10 days following the expiration date to pay the renewal fee. To assist you in the renewal process, J&J Gaming provides renewal reminders before the due date and can even collect and submit your license check for you!