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No 24 hour gaming at casinos

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Illinois

* You can gamble 24 hours a day at numerous truck stops in Illinois, but not at casinos…

Gamblers at Illinois’ 10 casinos must take a break whether they like it or not after the state’s gaming board decided Thursday not to allow them to stay open around the clock.

Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe said at a meeting that a request to allow casinos open 24 hours a day — two hours longer than current operating hours — had been denied.

Jaffe said in a brief statement the board heard statements both for and against expanding the hours and also had received written statements, and made their decision “having taken into consideration all the information presented to the board.” Jaffe did not elaborate in his brief statement or during the meeting, according to spokesman Gene O’Shea.

The idea is to prevent gambling addicts from parking themselves in a casino without a break. But now many of them can just head to the nearest truck stop when the casino closes. So, I dunno if that’s fair or not. Your thoughts?

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 10:27 am

Comments

Silly. Even the biggest gambling addict probably isn’t going to gamble more than 24 hours a day, so the “break” really just impacts those that happen to be there at the time of the break. A guy that starts gambling two hours before the break must stop, but a guy that starts right after the break can gamble for 22 hours straight.

Comment by Just Observing Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 10:39 am
its silly. the 2 hours will be at lowest use. It justs costs the place money to actually close are re-open. And if you are an addict and gov is so worried about the addict, then have no gambling. but dont put this stupid 2 hour thing on as if it actually does something.

Comment by RonOglesby Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 10:43 am
Only about two percent of video gambling venues are truck stops. That’s a slim reed on which to justify 24-hour casino operation.

Comment by reformer Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 10:46 am
Is this being blocked by the truck stop casino lobby?

Comment by Mike Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 10:46 am
Most video gaming spots are not at truck stops, they’re within municipalities–where they are automatically shut down daily in accordance with local liquor ordinances regulating alcohol sales. If the ordinance says noon-2am for booze sales, then the machines shut down at 2 am.

Comment by unspun Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 10:52 am
Totally ridiculous. I’m not a gambler and don’t visit casinos, but do we really think there’s a difference whether they’re open 22 or 24 hours. Geez, that’s a pretty thin reed of hope that an addict will break free because of that two hour window.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 10:53 am
Yes, most video gaming locations are not open 24 hours, but if you argument for not having 24 hour gaming at casinos is to protect people and prevent them playing 24/7 shouldn’t that be the rule at all gaming venues?

Comment by OneMan Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 10:54 am
another example of the foot draggers at the gaming board — protecting us from ourselves and letting some $$$ slip away

Comment by CircularFiringSquad Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 10:58 am
I supported gambling expansion and still think a casino in Chicago and video poker at ohare and midway. I have seen several of these gas station video gaming locations I think drive in video gaming is going to far. Also some of these video gaming business that opened are more about video gaming then anything else. I was ok with gambling in bars we have gone way past that.

Comment by Fed up Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 10:58 am
Why are we wasting time on this? This isn’t like they are only open until 5 PM currently. Even the most addicted gamblers need to sleep at some point.

Comment by Annoyed Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 11:01 am
Not a fan of gambling expansion, but i don’t get the 2 hour closure. Cost more to close and reopen , but I don’t see any evidence that the closure has any value.

Is this some sort of fig leaf to say that the State does not gamble too much? Without any other data, seems silly

Comment by Plotocrat03 Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 11:14 am
As if this is going to stop a serious gambling fan. A 2 hour break is just enough for a nap, snack, and bathroom run. Makes as much sense as making a 24 hour retail store close 2 hours to force shopaholics to take a break from shopping.

Comment by zatoichi Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 11:16 am
Reminds me of the former requirement to require the casino to float on water at all times it was operating. Didn’t really amount to anything, but allowed us to say “we don’t allow gambling to touch the dear soil of our beloved state”.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 11:24 am
A big misconception here. Casinos are open 24 hours/day, they just kick out the customers for two hours. During the down time, machines registers are read out, place is cleaned, food prep goes on, and so on. It’s not like they lock the doors and go home.

Comment by a drop in Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 11:41 am
Perhaps they should reconsider the decision of letting video gambling at truck stops continue for 24 hours.

Comment by Ruby Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 12:12 pm
Goofy. The horse is already way out of the barn. I can now lose, excuse me, game 24-7 at a small handful of spots within a 5-mile radius of my house in Springfield.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 12:25 pm
a drop in- I have heard exactly the same thing, the riverboats use the 2-hours to franticly clean the place up, service the machines, and any other repairs that are better to do when no customers are there.

Comment by DuPage Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 1:10 pm
This ruling is a joke.

If gambling is a societal cancer harming communities then it should be prohibited 24 hours a day rather than 2.

But if gambling is just a vice that some people find entertaining while others take it too far, as the state currently posits by letting it happen 22 hours a day, then this rule makes no sense.

This minoe expansion of existing gambling hours sure seems like less of a threat to the public or communities than the largescale video gaming bill.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 1:38 pm
Gentlemen, this bill will be a giant step forward in the treatment of the insane gambler.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 1:38 pm
Regarding the 24 hour truck stops, the truck stops are allowed to offer video gambling around the clock per the Video Gaming Act. The Gaming Board has no say in truck stop gambling hours of operation.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 2:43 pm
There should be a level playing field: truck stops should be limited to 22 hours or casinos should be allowed to open for 24 hours.

Comment by elder lobbyist Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 2:51 pm
I was at a craps table years ago when patrons could smoke and gamble. One of the players had been at the table so long he had to write out the bets he wanted to place because he lost his voice.

Comment by Tom Joad Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 3:15 pm
Good call. Admittedly, surrounding States may keep ‘em rollin’ without a break, but 22 hours is plenty of time to reap one, LONG day’s profit! Plus, it’ll force the addicts out the door to at least go buy a cup of coffee (hopefully, instead of some alcoholic beverage), breakfast, and maybe even to go HOME for a few hours of REST to maybe get their minds on something else…)!

Comment by Just The Way It Is One Friday, Oct 25, 13 @ 3:38 pm