Chicago One Step Closer to a Casino and Electronic Gambling

Chicago is one step closer to opening the city's first land based casino that would allow for up to 4,000 patrons to gamble at a new publicly owned casino.

The Illinois state senate stayed up late Thursday night voting on the bill that included a measure that would allow the new casino along with electronic poker to be played at the casino 'online' against other poker players across the country.

The plan to expand gambling in Illinois passed the state Senate even though critics believed it to be a long shot. The bill now will go the state House where it is also expected to have no shot at passing.

"I just don't think it's appropriate," said Representative Keith Sommer, Republican of the 106th District. "It encourages... our young people that this is the way to wealth."

But most thought differently in the State Senate. The bill also carries with it several other measures that would greatly expand gambling in the state of Illinois.

Existing casinos would be allowed to raise their capacity from 1,200 maximum to 2,000. Three other casinos in the Chicago area would be allowed 3,500 positions each. The $2 billion expansion plan may have a shot if the taxes made from the profits of the casinos go for proper purposes, according to Democrat Mike Smith.

Of interest to the online gambling community is the scrupulous tidbit about allowing electronic poker. As of now the details are not clear, but Gordon Price of CasinoGamblingWeb.com believes this would be the first step to the "US expanding to a legalized form of Internet gambling. The electronic gambling," Mr. Price points out, "is not exactly online gambling, but it is perhaps the first step in that direction."

Although the details are not entirely clear, in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act a carve out was written that would allow interstate electronic gambling. Although the purpose of the carve out was to allow progressive gaming across multiple sites in the state, there could be a way to exploit the loophole in the law to allow Internet gambling across states.

June 1, 2007
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com    Previous Page | Internet Gambling | Top Online Casinos | Submit News!