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* Some folks are getting quite creative out there…
Video gambling is widespread in taverns, clubs and restaurants around Sangamon County, but it doesn’t appear to be headed to an auto body shop.
A request for a zoning change by Hollinshead Auto Body, 2935 Sangamon Ave., that would allow the business to apply for a liquor license was denied Thursday by the Sangamon County Zoning Board of Appeals.
The zoning board’s recommendation now heads to the full county board, which has the final say on the zoning change.
However, several officials said after Thursday’s hearing that it’s unlikely the board will be swayed. They noted that the Springfield-Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission also recommended the proposal for denial.
* This one was approved…
The issue of video gaming nearly snagged a business proposal that would create a cafe, deli, convenience store and small bar inside the Woodstock train depot. […]
Aside from the various amenities, the new-look depot also would include video gaming machines discretely located inside the building, said Daniel Hart, owner of D.C. Cobb’s in the Woodstock Square who crafted the proposal. […]
After a near 50-minute discussion on the proposal, council members unanimously approved a lease agreement with Hart. The agreement also prohibits the new business from using external signs that advertise video gaming.
“In my mind, the alternative is an empty, dark shell that says we are shut down,” said member Maureen Larson. “There is nothing worse than pulling into a closed, locked up train station.”
* Some perspective…
Murphysboro Mayor Will Stephens said video gaming has been going on in social clubs, such as fraternal order clubs and taverns, for a long time which was supposed to be “entertainment only,” but now it is legal.
“For years that has gone on, but because the state has mismanaged finances, they have gotten into all sorts of things it didn’t used to be in order to bring in money,” he said. “A lot of places were already participating in gaming but it wasn’t a legitimate enterprise. Now it is.”
* From the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association…
Video gaming is doing its part to help get Illinois on a better track. There are now more than 18,600 video gaming machines operating in nearly 4,600 locations around the state. Those machines have produced nearly $160 million in state and local tax revenue in 2014 through October.
Those dollars are supporting thousands of local jobs, helping local governments shore up their budgets and afford infrastructure projects and providing critical money for the state’s capital construction program – repairing and building roads, bridges and transit systems and putting people to work. This is local entertainment that draws people to bars, restaurants and fraternal organizations and provides hope to so many business owners hurt in recent years by the economic downturn. Video gaming is strictly regulated by the Illinois Gaming Board, and our industry made up of a collection of responsible small businesses is proud of the progress since video gaming terminals were turned on in fall 2012.
* Meanwhile…
A casino in East St. Louis has laid off 20 of its workers and cut its hours amid declines in gambling revenue.
A Casino Queen spokeswoman, Julie Hauser, says the layoffs took place this month and include managers. They bring the site’s workforce to about 600. The casino had about 1,200 employees when it was moved onto land from a riverboat along the Mississippi River in 2007. […]
Illinois Gaming Board figures show the Casino Queen’s December revenues were $8.8 million. That 4.6-percent decline from the same month in 2013 is widely blamed on the growth of video gaming statewide in non-casino sites.
The state’s casinos held a monopoly on legal gambling for decades. They had a good run, but too many didn’t plow enough money back into their establishments and they’ve become stale. There’s nothing wrong with some legal competition.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 10:04 am
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Comment by DownState Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 10:13 am
How many of the video gamers are new players vs. those who ‘use to’ frequent casinos. I think the Mom & Pop establishments are just canabilizing the big boys. Little real increase in revenue.
Comment by Bogey Golfer Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 10:25 am
A lot of the license owners had it very good with their monopoly. When opened they even charged $10 to get into the casino, and some required you to call in advance to be on the list to get in.
The casinos have had glory days. Now the competition has just started to chip away at the
decade long monoply.
Comment by Tom Joad Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 10:27 am
So an adult in Illinois can go to just about any bar or club to gamble on video games — but no way are there slots or video games at the race track???
How is that? Why?
Balmoral, Maywood, Hawthorne, Arlington Park — they employ Illinoisans, as do the stables and trainers and drivers. They’re racing less frequently than a decade ago and for smaller purses.
The IL General Assembly is determined to kill horse racing in Illinois.
It’s so weird how I hear the same tired arguments about protecting Illinoisans from gambling at the tracks.
I’ve never heard of anyone expecting the general assembly to pass legislation to stop the sports fan paying outrageous amounts for ball game tickets, overpriced food and beverages, or parking.
Comment by Katich Walker, Jr. Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 10:30 am
The waging/gambling pie just gets cut up differently. Why drive to “the boats” when you can go to your favorite drinking hole and lose your money locally? Too bad the body shop couldn’t win a license. That could really turn the state’s finances around - lol.
Comment by dupage dan Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 10:31 am
I don’t gamble but am ok with the gaming machines. I consider it a voluntary tax. My issue is with the aesthetics. You couldn’t drive down MacArthur Blvd without seeing Payday Loans stacked on top of each other. Now you can’t drive Wabash ave without seeing “gaming here” signs. It just doesn’t look good for a city trying to attract tourism.
Comment by Casual Observer Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 10:34 am
Question for the group. Did the Bidwill family own the East St. Louis casino license?
Not bad work for the descendants of former Illinois politicians who also own or owned a race track (Sportsman’s Park) and a pro football team (Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals).
Comment by Under Further Review Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 10:37 am
I suspect the decline with the Casino Queen has a lot more to do with competition over in MO. Lumiere has a huge complex just over the MLK bridge with live entertainment and close to the whole Vegas experience. Once STL got gaming and big time gaming Ameristar, Harrahs, Lumiere etc. Gaming at the Queen and East STL was doomed.
I’m curious about the loss of revenue at Para-Dice in Peoria. They are far enough away from competitors to be suffering from the video gaming without outside competition as an influence.
Comment by Mason born Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 10:41 am
@Bogey Golfer’s comment re: canabalizing the boats’ revenue.
I’d be interested in seeing the numbers on that. Take the total revenue from Illinois Casinos (down presumably) and add in the local bar video gaming revenue (up, since it’s new) and see where the total falls. THAT number is the real delta in total revenue collected.
Comment by Illini97 Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 10:53 am
Like Mayor Stevens said, there were plenty of gambling machines in local establishments before. They’re just legal now.
Casinos compete with other casinos — and there are plenty all over the place. You better spend money to keep up with the bright new shiny thing, like Rivers, or you’re going to lose business. Happens in Vegas, Macau, everywhere.
Atlantic City is going down the tubes because they didn’t reinvest as quickly or as much as they needed to compete with new casinos coming on line in PA, New York and Delaware.
Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 11:00 am
The law of diminishing returns at work…
Comment by A guy Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 11:01 am
Hey, some of us are hoping that the gambling (not ‘gaming’!) market becomes so over saturated that they will all fail! Using rigged games to fleece customers and get revenue is a bad thing!
Comment by Let'sMovetoTexas Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 11:03 am
I saw video gambling in a gas station not long ago… I had to do a double-take.
Comment by Just Observing Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 11:09 am
According to the Gaming Board site, last year people gambled $8.24 billion on video gaming in Illinois. No wonder some boats are feeling it. Only so much you can gamble.
Comment by 5-Card Dud Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 11:28 am
- The IL General Assembly is determined to kill horse racing in Illinois. -
How exactly is having slot machines saving horse racing?
If you mean saving the track owners, then maybe. But the tough fact is that folks just aren’t as interested in horse racing these days.
As someone who finds horse racing one of the most fun forms of gambling this makes me sad, but let’s not make excuses.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 11:30 am
Five card, that’s a little misleading. People “gambled” $8.4 billion, but machines gave back $7.6 billion. So like machines everywhere, most of the “gambling” is people pumping back their “winnings.”
Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 11:35 am
Next time you see any marketing or advertising for horse racing in Illinois, let me know.
You’re competing for the disposable entertainment dollar. Lots of competition. You’ve got to hustle.
A couple of billboards and a radio spot for the Arlington Million ain’t gonna cut it.
Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 11:38 am
I don’t know how much money track owners have for marketing. I know that unlike MLB, NFL, & the NHL, track owners are not getting military recruitment marketing dollars to encourage broken-down horseplayers to enlist.
But there are plenty of great marketing programs for those who frequent the tracks — and beerfests, 5K runs, holiday dinners for the regulars, wine tasting events.
I had suspected the failure to get slots at the tracks was the result of pressure from casino operators, but who knows?
Comment by Katich Walker, Jr. Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 11:48 am
– Anon @ 11:30 — is right.
Outside of Kentucky, Southern California, and arguably a few other places, horse racing just can’t compete with casinos or video poker in taverns. Casual gamblers don’t want to study the Racing Form and wait 20 minutes between each bet — not in our fast pace, instant gratification world.
Like everything else, the gambling economy has evolved. The horse tracks are to gaming what hard copy newspapers are to mass media — vestiges of a gone-by era that will never reclaim their past prominence in our culture.
If the horse racing industry was left to evolve in the free market without government subsidies or slot-machines in their grandstands, there would be only 10 or 12 tracks left in the entire nation. Arlington might be one of them — but that’s debatable.
Wish it wasn’t true. I love horse racing….and my good ol’ ink- stained newspaper.
Comment by B.C. Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 12:19 pm
Compare the Casino Queen with the huge Lumiere across the river, which is basically a small Vegas casino/hotel(Four Seasons). I’m surprised anyone chooses the CasinoQueen over that.
Comment by Anonymoiis Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 12:21 pm
@ Anonymous (11:30am): Tracks in other states — IN, OH, WV, AR, to name a few — allow the tracks to have gaming operations.
Not IL.
Gamblers who enjoy both slots and racing can go to the track. Track owners who want to improve the quality of racing can also attract those who enjoy other forms of gaming. They are not prohibited from doing so by law.
Comment by Katich Walker, Jr. Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 12:22 pm
“…. vestiges of a gone-by era ”
Maybe. but the policies of this state hurt the industry.
Comment by Katich Walker, Jr. Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 12:25 pm
- Katich Walker, Jr. -
I agree that Illinois has not been industry-friendly when it comes to horse racing. Unfortunately, the horse racing industry itself has to shoulder a lot of the blame for that. Way too much infighting between the tracks and between the tracks and the horsemen. They have rarely presented a united front in Springfield — and that goes back decades — which has often left their legislative agenda adrift.
Slots at tracks would boost purses and enable Illinois to compete better with other states that have okayed racinos. But that’s an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” solution that proves my earlier point: horse racing can’t compete into today’s gaming economy.
Comment by B.C. Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 12:53 pm
Horse racing, to some degree, can compete. Yes, it’s not a super fast pace, but it is family friendly compared to other gambling options. You can bring your family to the tracks for a picnic and some very light gambling. Heck, even the kids can pick the races.
Comment by Just Observing Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 1:21 pm
@B.C. — It surely seems unlikely now, but it’s possible horse racing could regain its popularity.
If not, preventing tracks from having casino operations is a sure way to hurt the tracks.
Opera ain’t so popular, but it’s only the venue operators and the agreements they make that would prevent an opera house from presenting other forms of music on its stage — not the general assembly.
Comment by Katich Walker, Jr. Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 2:03 pm
@Just Observing
And having a section of a track clubhouse or grandstand set off for casino operations would not prevent a family from having an outing at the track any more than the selling of alcoholic beverages to adults at a sporting events venue means kids can’t attend.
Comment by Katich Walker, Jr. Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 2:11 pm
The Tracks received $60 million from the rip off of the four most profitable casinos. What did the tracks do with that windfall? After the court ruled that was illegal the tracks are talking about filing bankruptcy. Another Blago scam gone bad.
Comment by Tom Joad Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 2:55 pm
Out of state bosses, ie Boyd, Caesars, Penn…control what goes on in their casinos in this state. They won’t let go of their ROI. They say what the hold is at their casinos in Illinois. And the GM’s are just show pieces and can’t run the casino they way they need to make a profit.
Comment by In_The_Middle Friday, Jan 16, 15 @ 4:20 pm