Video Gambling Slow To Move Ahead In Illinois
JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) -- Video gambling in the state seems to be in a holding pattern.
As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, the state has approved 341 video gambling licenses, but the Illinois Gaming Board says only a fraction of the locations are ready to start, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report.
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One is Izzy's Place in Joliet, which one of a handful of sites where the machines are being tested for glitches.
The video poker machines were delivered to Izzy's on the first of August. They were up and running for the day on Wednesday, and the owner says they were in use nonstop for about six hours, the Sun-Times reported.
The Bringer Inn, a neighborhood bar in Morton Grove, was the first to receive video gambling machines about a week ago, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
Initially, Labor Day was the target date for video gambling, but the Gaming Board says the companies that operate the machines have been slow to get paperwork in, and they've been slow to get the machines installed, the Sun-Times reported.
When Gov. Pat Quinn signed the bill that legalized video gambling, the state estimated that 45,000 machines could be installed throughout Illinois for a revenue estimated at up to $534 million a year, the Tribune reported. But now, it is not clear whether that estimate is realistic, particularly given that many counties municipalities still have policies against video gambling machines, the newspaper reported.
