Illinois Best Online Gambling Sites For 2024
Illinois has been one of the few states that have fueled the fire in the fight for legalized online gambling within the United States. They first attempted to pass online gambling legislation in 2012 but the bill failed to pass through to the committee to approve it.
Another attempt came in 2013 but it failed in negotiations because it was attached to the contentious idea of adding more casinos to the state. Since then, the aims of online gambling legalization in the state of Illinois seem to have taken a more directed approach.
Senate President John J. Cullerton is rumored to soon support a standalone bill to legalize online poker. Online poker was notably excluded from the DOJ’s formal opinion on the Federal Wire Act in 2011 that rendered only US-based sports betting to be illegal over the internet.
This guide was created to help citizens of Illinois understand the changing legal dynamics in the world of legal online gambling. Despite the state’s struggles with the legalization process, residents of Illinois still of legal options for online gambling that they may not have yet considered. Below you will find the legal details that are involved with placing legal real money bets with properly regulated offshore providers of online gambling entertainment.
Top Rated Legal Illinois Online Gambling Sites For December, 2024
All of these sites that we have listed here are appropriately licensed and regulated, in good standing with banking institutions around the world, are physically located outside of US federal jurisdiction, and have excellent customer satisfaction ratings.
The following Illinois gambling sites are properly sanctioned by regulatory bodies that exist in countries other than the United States. These websites as examples of what to expect in the industry-standard as you seek a legally sanctioned and high-quality sports destination at which to gamble online.
- All
- Bingo
- Casino
- Live Dealer
- Poker
- Sportsbook
$500
$3,000
$500
$5,000
$3,125
$1,000
$2,500
$6,000
$5,000
$9,750
$250
$200
$8,000
Is Online Gambling Legal In Illinois?
Despite the fact that the state of Illinois has been struggling with the legalization of online gambling, residents of Illinois can legally gamble over the internet at any online gambling website that is properly regulated and located outside of the American federal jurisdiction. The legalization process is a fight over the impended business approval of online gambling businesses, not the right for citizens to actually place the bets.
None of the existing USA federal gambling laws prohibit IL residents from enjoying licensed online gambling entertainment. In fact, there are no laws on the books in either the federal government or the Illinois state government that would restrict any resident from placing bets over the internet with properly regulated online gambling websites that find their location outside of US borders.
Legal Illinois Online Casinos
Real money online casino games are widely available to residents of Illinois. HTML5 has allowed programmers working for these online gambling websites to program in web apps that allow players a gaming experience that cuts down on internet download times and the requirement for hosting licenses that typically back up the process to releasing a game.
Now, you have access to a wide range of US friendly online slots gaming options as well as table games such as Baccarat, Roulette, Video Poker and Blackjack along with other specialty games that include scratch cards made for the internet and keno.
Live dealer games are also available to players at select licensed online casinos and provide a selection of real money games that are very similar to the games offered through a live visit to a brick and mortar casino. Our guide to Illinois online casinos will provide you with detailed information about how IL residents can legally and safely enjoy online casino games.
Legal Illinois Online Sports Betting
Sports betting is the genre of online gambling that has always been in hot contention. Until May 2018 PASPA was the governing regulation that prohibited state-based sportsbooks from operating. The DOJ’s formal opinion on the Federal Wire Act totally outlawed US-based sports betting businesses that operate primarily over the internet. These two laws combined to address state-regulated sports betting both online and offline.
In 2019 the state passed legislation to allow domestic and online sports betting following the repeal of PASPA. The state has plans to allow sports betting kiosks as well as brick-and-mortar sportsbooks at stadiums. The state was hoping for a 2019 launch but with the end of the year looming it will likely be 2020 before domestic sportsbooks begin to accept bets.
Yet, sports fans in Illinois still have access to legally sanctioned online sportsbooks that are located outside of the country. The betting sites that you will find listed in this guide all have options for betting on professional, amateur and collegiate sports, as well as some categories that are less mainstream such as esports, cricket, rugby, darts, water sports and other less known options. You can even place bets on entertainment and politics at any of the online sportsbooks that accept Illinois players.
Legal Illinois Online Poker
Yes you can. Soon you may even be able to play state regulated online poker if IL moves forward with legislation to legalize online poker at a state level. For now, or until the legislature gets passed, you still have legal options for playing online poker at destinations that aren't located within the United States. As long as a poker site is properly licensed and regulated, you will have access to the all the games and tournaments that you can find.
There are Texas Hold’em, Omaha, HORSE, and all the variants of stud poker you could want. You will be able to find games with high or low stakes and some sites even offer a free play version of the poker rooms they offer that will allow you to bet “play money” with other live opponents.
Illinois online poker options also allow players to enjoy multiple hands at multiple tables simultaneously for many more hands per hour, which is important to players seeking to make money on this type of gambling entertainment.
Legal Illinois Online Bingo
Online bingo played with real money falls into the online gambling arena and is thus is included in the laws that pertain to the industry of online gambling. That makes it totally legal for residents of Illinois to play bingo online with any Internet gambling companies that possess the proper regulation, licensing and compliance certifications and that are located in the international community.
Illinois online bingo sites offer both free and real money bingo gaming entertainment as well as a variety of casino side games.
Will IL Legalize Online Gambling In The Near Future?
It certainly looks promising. As the introduction to this guide outlined, the state of Illinois has tried multiple times in the past to get some sort of online gambling legalized and regulated for the state’s economy to profit from. If the rumors are true there might be an online poker bill coming in the near future and once that breaks the seal, everything else is sure to follow.
Now that the state has passed legislation to allow sports betting it will likely take their focus until sportsbooks are launched, after that the state will probably try to expand other forms of state-regulated gambling services.
