Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Roper thinks the James R. Thompson at Clark and Randolph would be the perfect location for a casino in Chicago. more ›

City Council and Rahm Emanuel say gambling expansion is a safe bet. Thursday they passed a resolution urging Governor Quinn to ante up. more ›

Today's listings include a free performance by Gold Motel, the annual Gaming on Green event and a cooking demo direct from Paris. more ›

Some officials believe building a land-based casino could provide help during Chicago's financial crisis but Mayor Daley has some reservations that must be met first. more ›

We're not the gambling sort. We know people who are, but we've never had much luck so we leave it to them. Still, if there's not enough anxiety/excitement for you surrounding Friday's 2016 Olympic host city announcement, why not make it more interesting by putting some money down on the decision? WBEZ's Lynette Kalsnes points us to gambling sites that carry some odds on the IOC's decision, one of which puts Chicago as the 8 to 11 favorite to take the bid. more ›

Illinois casino industry is a step closer to expansion after a 30-28 Senate vote Saturday evening, the Chicago Tribune reports. It is now being sent to the House where reception to the measure has been lukewarm. Speaker of the House Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) was weary of approving the expansion, according to the Tribune. more ›

A deal to bring a few more casinos to the areas and slot machines to horse tracks was squashed earlier this week by State House Speaker Mike Madigan. CBS 2 reports Madigan said via a statement, "I learned from the process of killing the Blagojevich gambling proposals that gambling is not a wholesome activity, and we're not going to deal with that this year." Meanwhile, Ashok Selvam has a closer look at Off Track Betting sites in the burbs and their impact over at the Daily Herald. more ›

In a 3-1 vote, the Illinois Gaming Board awarded the state's 10th Casino license to Des Plaines-based Midwest Gaming LLC, ending a ten-year process in which bidders throughout the state vied for the open license. [Crain's] more ›

While companies are putting together bids for Des Plaines, Rosemont and Waukegan for the state's final casino license, they're finding themselves hampered by the struggling economy. Bill Eadington, director of a gambling institute at the University of Nevada-Reno, recently told the Trib, "It's very bad timing for Illinois. We're facing the biggest economic recession in 75 years. I wouldn't be surprised if the companies that made bids a couple months ago could no longer justify them." Casino giants like Harrah's are having to scale back or scrap plans for new casinos altogether.

The finalists are Trilliant Gaming, a Los Angeles-based venture that has teamed up with Rosemont and submitted the high bid of $435 million. The next highest offer is $225 million from Waukegan Gaming. A distant third at $100 million is Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, billionaire developer Neil Bluhm's group, who wants to open in Des Plaines. Those figures don't include the cost of building the casino, which could be in the hundreds of millions, making it tougher to turn a profit. more ›

The state believes it will sell its long-dormant 10th casino license by the end of the year, according to Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe. "Although the journey was tumultuous, the end result validated the efforts of many people, over a long period of time, to maintain the integrity of the gaming industry," he said. The license was originally held by Emerald Casino, which had planned to open a facility in Rosemont. The state revoked that license in 2001 amid allegations of mob connections. more ›

The Illinois Gaming Board fined Aurora's Hollywood Casino $800,000 and suspended three managers for sending marketing materials to problem gamblers who had volunteered to be banned from Illinois casinos. [Crain's] more ›

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Mike Madigan made it seem like he was ready to deal this week, with a letter to state legislators saying that he'd endorse a bill to expand gaming in the state in order to fund roads and schools. In announcing his "compromise", he said he is "willing to embrace compromise and offer a sincere, serious proposal that will receive my full support and backing." That expansion may not happen, though, as some lawmakers have enough... more ›

Is Mike Madigan ready to take a gamble? So it seems from a letter he wrote today to state legislators. He said today that he'd endorse a bill proposed by Democratic reps Lou Lang and Bob Molaro that expands gambling—gaming, sorry—and uses that money for roads and schools. From the AP: The new proposal includes many of the elements that already passed the Senate in September, including a huge, land-based casino in Chicago and... more ›