The summary of the April meeting is below. However, we first wanted to briefly discuss recent newsworthy topics in Illinois gaming.

The first topic is the recent reports regarding potential changes to the Illinois Gaming Board. As you may have seen, Governor Pritzker is proposing merging the Illinois Gaming Board and the Illinois Racing Board into a single state government department. While no legislation has been filed yet and key details remain unresolved, the proposed plan would eliminate the current board structures of both agencies, as well as the legal requirement for monthly public board meetings. The IGB has four remaining meetings scheduled for 2026, including June 11, 2026. We will update you on any changes to this schedule and to the passage of any legislation.

The second recent event of consequence, specifically for the video gaming industry, has to do with IGB’s vertical integration rules. Recently, these rules appeared on the IGB website, which stated the “adopted rule(s) are effective but have not been published in the Illinois Register,” see it here: Laws & Regulations. During his comments at the meeting, the Administrator stated that the final rules would be available once they were published in the Illinois Register and that IGB would be distributing materials to help with compliance.

These are significant changes to gaming in Illinois so please contact us with questions, comments or concerns regarding these matters.

April 23, 2026 - IGB Meeting

The IGB held its monthly meeting on Thursday, April 23, 2026. The meeting was hybrid with in-person accessibility at 160 N. LaSalle St., 5th Floor Auditorium and via livestream. Board members present at this meeting were Chair Hayden, Member Ferrara, and Member Melamed. This month’s meeting began with the approval of the minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of Feb. 5, 2026, and approval of the minutes of the Special Meeting of Feb. 26, 2026.

Board Member Comments

There were no Board Member comments.

Administrator’s Report

The Administrator discussed six topics during his report at the meeting.

First, the Administrator briefly discussed recent complaints and concerns received by IGB staff pertaining to alleged violations of marketing rules by licensed video gaming locations and/or terminal operators. The Administrator reminded licensees of their duties to comply with Board rules and encouraged licensees to carefully review Rule 1800.380 and Rule 3000.680, specifically 680(e), regarding marketing and advertising.

The Administrator then reminded terminal operators and proposed sales agents who have previously been disclosed to the IGB, through an Exhibit 8(D) submission, of the August 2026 deadline for sales agents to file the required sales agent application. The Administrator pointed out that the applications can be found on the IGB’s website and encouraged terminal operators to submit employee applications in bulk to further assist the IGB in their review and processing.

Next, the Administrator stated that in March, by the authority delegated to him, he issued a number of new video gaming licenses including 54 location licenses, 52 handler licenses, one terminal technician license, six sales agent licenses, and 813 license renewals of various types.

The Administrator continued his comments with a brief discussion of the vertical integration rules and JCAR’s approval of these rules. As we stated above, the rules are available on the IGB’s website and take effect May 1, 2026.

Lastly, the Administrator provided the industry revenue numbers. Of note, there are currently 8,722 video gaming locations with roughly 49,591 VGTs. In March, these VGTs generated a Net Terminal Income (also known as NTI) of $302 million which generated $91 million for the state and $14 million for local municipalities. Also in March, Illinois casinos saw over 1 million admissions yielding an Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of $183 million, which generated $28 million in taxes for the state and $10 million in taxes for local host communities. In February, Sports Wagering yielded an AGR of over $109 million resulting in state taxes of $38.5 million and over $1 million in taxes for Cook County. In total this year, reported gaming revenue across industries have resulted in $429 million for the state of Illinois and $73 million for local municipalities.

Public Commentary

Mr. Pierce Felter, Thorntons LLC, addressed the Board briefly to speak about certain contributions Thorntons has been able to make to its host communities and briefly mentioned a number of pending applications it has with the Illinois Gaming Board.

Administrative Matters

The meeting continued with the Administrator again addressing the video gaming vertical integration rules and their approval by Joint Committee of Administrative Rules (JCAR). He stated that during the JCAR process, suggestions were made that fell outside the scope of changes before JCAR. According to the Administrator, IGB staff agreed to evaluate these proposals and, when appropriate, draft new or amended rule to address them. At this meeting, IGB staff proposed:

1. Amending Rule1800.321 to require sales agents to be employees of terminals operators (rather than an independent contractor) on whose behalf they solicit agreements, and
2. Proposed new rule, Rule 1800.341, concerning revenue shares. Rule 341 would only permit revenue share agreements between licensed terminal operators. The proposed rule would also prohibit revenue share agreements with any sales agent.

The Board voted to approve the submission of the proposed amendments to Rule 321 and new Rule 341 to the Index Department of the Secretary of State for publication, public comment, and eventual presentation to JCAR for First Notice review and consideration. As always, if you have comments or would like to discuss these proposals, give us a call.

Casino

The Casino portion of this meeting began with the Board hearing the final consideration of 815 Entertainment, LLC d/b/a Hard Rock Casino Rockford and granting its license renewal, including finding suitable those individuals previously found suitable as well as approving the following new parties:

• GNS Irrevocable Trust
• Andrew James Hill
• Jeffrey Jared Kaney Sr.
• Michael David Mercer
• Craig Alan Miller
• Joseph Louis Orednick
• Michael David Rumbolz.

The Board next approved the supplier license renewals of: 1) Landry Holdings, LLC d/b/a Casino Tech and 2) SUZOHAPP Gaming Solutions, LLC and found Vincent Joseph Zahn suitable as a key Person of HR Rockford, LLC for his role as Executive VP & CFO of Seminole Hard Rock Support Services, LLC.

The Board also granted the following Level 1 Occupational Licenses to:

• Shane William Harrison for his role as Security Manager at Southern Illinois Riverboat/Casino Cruises LLC d/b/a Harrah’s Metropolis Casino.
• Vincent William Adler for his role as Security Director at Walker's Bluff Casino Resort, LLC.

Additionally, the Board approved 284 initial casino occupational level 2 licenses and issued five notices of denial. The Administrator also issued renewals to all occupational licensees that were up for renewal and had provided updated information, timely paid their renewal fees and complied with all other requirements.

Sports Wagering

The Sports Wagering portion of the meeting commenced with the Administrator, by the authority delegated to him, issuing an initial Master Sports Wagering License to Wind Creek IL LLC d/b/a Wind Creek Chicago Southland.

Thereafter, the Board approved the supplier license renewal to Swish Analytics Illinois Inc. and a large number of initial casino occupational level 2 licenses. The Administrator then issued renewals to all occupational licensees that were up for renewal and had provided updated information, timely paid their renewal fees and complied with all other requirements.

Video Gaming

The Video Gaming portion of the meeting opened with the Board granting the initial license of Entropy Cabinet Solutions Inc., USA.

The Board next approved the initial licenses of the following terminal operators:

• Fortune Factory Gaming Inc.
• Lap Royal IL LLC.
• Sentinel Strategies, LLC - Sentinel Gaming d/b/a Sentinel Gaming.
• Premier Entertainment, Inc.

The Board tabled the initial consideration of Skyline Gaming Ventures Holdings LLC.

Thereafter, the Board approved the renewal of the following terminal operators licensees:

• Accel Entertainment Gaming, LLC.
• Ashiq Gaming, LLC d/b/a Blackjack Gaming.
• Compact Disc Amusements, Limited d/b/a Aces Video Gaming.
• Da Route LLC.
• Dragonfly Gaming, Inc.
• Eureka Entertainment, LLC d/b/a Universal Gem.
• Fair Share Gaming, LLC.
• Great Lakes Vending, Corporation.
• Laurel Gaming, LLC.
• Lucky Day LLC.
• Midwest Electronics Gaming, LLC d/b/a ME Gaming.
• Mississippi Gaming and Amusements, LLC.
• Sinbad’s Castle Arcade, Ltd. d/b/a Castle Gaming.
• Top Notch Entertainment, LLC.
• T’s Gaming, LLC.
• Velasquez Gaming, LLC d/b/a V Gaming.
• WAMI Gaming, LLC.

Thereafter, 18 terminal handler applications, two sales agents, and 58 location applications were approved while the following four establishments were issued notices of denial:

• DEWITTE YOURSELF LAUNDROMAT LLC d/b/a DEWITTE YOURSELF LAUNDROMAT.
• Midwest Petroleum Company d/b/a MPC #64 - Midwest Petroleum Company #64.
• Midwest Petroleum Company d/b/a MPC #82.
• Midwest Petroleum Company d/b/a MPC #57.

In other establishment matters, the Administrator issued notices of nonrenewal to 1) Emmersome, LLC d/b/a Rumors and 2) Elvas’ Burrito Express, Inc. d/b/a Elva’s Burrito Express as these locations allegedly no longer have liquor licenses and issued denials to the following four location applicants which are allegedly statutorily ineligible:

• El Gallo Bar and Grill Inc. d/b/a El Gallo Bar and Grill, Inc.
• Xenia Gas Station Inc. d/b/a Xenia Gas Station Inc.
• Milos Pub & Grub LLC d/b/a Milos Pub & Grub.
• Burritos Guacamole 3 Inc. d/b/a Burritos Guacamole 3 Inc.

The Administrator also renewed the terminal handler, technician and location licensees which were up for renewal and had provided updated information to the IGB, timely paid their renewal fees, and complied with all other requirements. The Administrator also renewed the video gaming supplier/distributor licenses of 1) Landry Holdings, LLC d/b/a Casino Tech and 2) SUZOHAPP Gaming Solutions, LLC since their corresponding casino licenses were renewed during the casino portion of the meeting.

The meeting continued with litigation matters. In the matter of 22 GB 023 In re: Denial of #190703548 Sam's Pizza Harlem, L.L.C. d/b/a Sam's Ristorante & Pizzeria (Sam’s), the Board voted to accept the ALJ recommendation finding the applicant suitable for licensure. Given the ALJ recommendation, the Board discussed a related pending case with the similar facts and voted to rescind the denial and grant Sams Ristorante & Pizzeria LLC d/b/a Sam's Ristorante & Pizzeria, a location in Rockford, a license.

Lastly, the Board voted to adopt the Administrative Law Judge’s recommendations in 19-GB-044 In re: Disassociation of Vincenzo Dublino and issued a Final Board Order of disassociation of Vicenzo Dublino.

The next scheduled IGB meeting is for June 11, 2026. We will provide notice if this changes.