Illinois Mulls Over Round the Clock Casino Proposals

The Illinois Gaming Board is seriously considering proposals that would introduce round the clock casinos to the US state. Along with a number of states, Illinois has seen casino revenue fall dramatically, and this is seen as one potential move that could attract new players to their land based casinos. With the imminent arrival of online casinos to the US, physical casinos are looking for ways they can keep current players, too.

Currently, casinos in Illinois are required to close up shop for a minimum of 2 hours every day, and with revenues – as well as the taxes collected by the state – down by more than a third (35%) over the last 5 years, this new proposal has been put forward.

Tom Swoike, from the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, estimated that the change could help bring in an extra $5 million in yearly tax income for the state, adding: “Twenty-four-hour gaming already exists in the state at the truck stops. The state does not receive as much revenue from the truck stops as they do from the casinos because we pay at a higher tax rate.”

With the recent changes in American gambling laws paving the way for a host of online and mobile casinos, brick and mortar casinos are having to turn to new and inventive methods to capture gamers. Despite the law restricting online casinos to the state in which their licensed, casinos in states across America are struggling to bring in the revenues they managed just a few years ago, a trend set to continue.

This is only the latest in a string of gambling news items to flood out of the US since the law changes. With new online casinos due in 3 states, and Google set to enter the gambling market with its purchase of bwin, the landscape is certainly changing and land based casinos need to adapt to keep pace.