New numbers show more people are playing video gaming machines at locations across the state, while attendance at Illinois casinos continues to fall.
There are more than a dozen locations along Illinois route one between Interstate 74 and downtown Westville where video gaming is offered. But as more gaming parlors sprout along that highway, owners of some bars and Veterans-related posts say they have seen their gaming revenues drop.
Operators of two Georgetown Road (route one) video gaming parlors told our news department there are only so many people playing the machines. So as more gaming parlors have opened, they have noticed a sharp decline in revenues at their location. But one noted that a lot of players like to play at multiple parlors.
An Illinois legislative commission says the state saw one-point-two billion dollars in taxes from video gaming machines last year. That is just under the one-point-four billion dollars that Illinois’ riverboat casinos generated.
Despite the fact that video gaming parlors have sprouted along route one and elsewhere, State Senator Scott Bennett thinks Danville’s chances of landing a casino are still very much alive. The Senator notes that although an agreement was reached to fund schools, Illinois is still in dire need of money for other areas – including improving the state’s infrastructure.
