Casinos in Illinois Map
Illinois has sixteen licensed casinos open now, two of them still in temporary buildings, plus the state’s first racino at Fairmount Park near Collinsville. This casinos in Illinois map groups every operating floor by region, from the dense ring around Chicago to the Metro East floors across the Mississippi from St. Louis. Every casino here is commercial, regulated by the Illinois Gaming Board, and the minimum age to gamble is 21 statewide.
- Casinos
- 1716 casinos · 1 racino
- Minimum age
- 21every casino, sports betting, racing
- Sports betting
- Legalretail & online, 21+
- Regulator
- IGBIllinois Gaming Board
Illustration An illustrated overview, not to scale. See the interactive map below for exact locations.
How casinos are spread across Illinois
Illinois casinos gather where the people are, and that means the Chicago area carries most of them. Rivers Casino Des Plaines, the busiest floor in the state, sits minutes from O’Hare, and the temporary Bally’s runs downtown while its permanent River West resort is built. The south suburbs added Wind Creek at East Hazel Crest in late 2024, and Full House Resorts operates American Place in a temporary building up at Waukegan near the Wisconsin line. Just west of the city, an older cluster follows the Fox River and the Des Plaines River, with Grand Victoria at Elgin, Hollywood Casino Aurora, and two floors side by side at Joliet.
The second concentration is the Metro East, the Illinois suburbs across the Mississippi from St. Louis. DraftKings at Casino Queen sits on the riverfront at East St. Louis within sight of the Gateway Arch, Argosy Casino Alton is upriver to the north, and Fairmount Park near Collinsville became the state’s first racino when it added casino gaming in 2025.
The rest are spread thinly across the state. Hard Rock anchors Rockford in the north, Par-A-Dice sits on the Illinois River at East Peoria in the center, and Golden Nugget Danville serves the eastern edge near Indiana. Bally’s Quad Cities holds down Rock Island on the western river, and far to the south Walker’s Bluff at Carterville and Harrah’s Metropolis on the Ohio River round out the map. Unlike most of its neighbors, Illinois has no tribal casinos at all, so every floor on this list is a commercial casino.
The Illinois casinos map
Pins Verified locations. The Chicago area properties sit close together and group into a cluster until you zoom in.
Sixteen casinos plus the Fairmount Park racino. Two casinos run in temporary buildings for now. Counts and rosters drift with openings and license changes; dated May 2026.
§ Casinos by region
The hub’s routing job. Illinois sorts into five working areas, each linking down to its city and casino pages as they come online.
Chicago and the suburbs northeast · Lake Michigan
The state’s center of gravity. Rivers Casino Des Plaines near O’Hare is the largest and most profitable floor in Illinois, the temporary Bally’s runs at the Medinah Temple downtown, Wind Creek Chicago Southland serves the south suburbs from East Hazel Crest, and American Place sits up at Waukegan near the Wisconsin border. This is the natural base for a Chicago casino trip.
The Fox River and Joliet collar counties · west of the city
An older ring of riverboat era floors just outside Chicago. Grand Victoria sits on the Fox River at Elgin and Hollywood Casino Aurora has run since 1993 further down the same river. Southwest at Joliet, Harrah’s and Hollywood Casino Joliet stand together on the Des Plaines River, the closest pair of casinos to the city’s southwest suburbs.
Northern and central Illinois Rockford · the Illinois River · the Indiana line
Three floors carry the middle of the state. Hard Rock Casino Rockford opened its permanent building in 2024 and serves the north and the Wisconsin border traffic. Par-A-Dice sits on the Illinois River at East Peoria across from Peoria, and Golden Nugget Danville reaches the eastern edge near the Indiana state line.
The Mississippi River and Metro East across from St. Louis · the western river
The southwest cluster lines the Mississippi. DraftKings at Casino Queen sits on the East St. Louis riverfront opposite the Gateway Arch, Argosy Casino Alton is upriver to the north, and Fairmount Park near Collinsville is the state’s first racino. Far up the same river, Bally’s Quad Cities holds Rock Island on the western border with Iowa.
Southern Illinois the far south · the Ohio River
Two floors anchor the bottom of the state. Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort opened at Carterville in Williamson County as one of the 2019 expansion casinos, and Harrah’s Metropolis sits on the Ohio River at the southern tip, drawing from Kentucky and the surrounding region.
Casino laws and minimum age in Illinois
Casino gambling is legal and well established in Illinois, regulated by the Illinois Gaming Board. The casinos trace back to the Riverboat Gambling Act of 1990, which licensed a fixed set of riverboat casinos, and that framework still shapes the older properties even though most now operate as moored structures or land based buildings rather than cruising boats. There are no tribal casinos in the state, so every floor falls under the same state commercial system.
The minimum age to gamble is 21 at every Illinois casino and racino, and the same 21 applies to sports betting and to wagering on horse races. The state lottery and charitable bingo are open at 18, but the casino floor is 21 and over. Retail and online sports betting are legal statewide for bettors 21 and up. Hours vary by property, so check the official site before planning around them, and confirm the current age and rules at the specific venue, since policies can change. The Illinois Department of Human Services runs a state helpline alongside the national resources.
Dated fact Minimum age 21 at every Illinois casino, racino, and sportsbook, per the Illinois Gaming Board. Verified May 2026. This is the kind of figure to recheck before relying on it.
Illinois riverboat roots
Illinois was one of the first states to legalize riverboat gambling, passing its Riverboat Gambling Act in 1990 and opening its first boats in the early 1990s. That history is why the older casinos sit on water, strung along the Fox, Des Plaines, Illinois, Mississippi, and Ohio Rivers rather than gathered in one resort strip. The law originally required the boats to cruise, then allowed them to stay dockside, and the properties have since become permanently moored structures or fully land based casinos. The riverfront settings at Aurora, Elgin, Joliet, Alton, East St. Louis, and Metropolis are the legacy of that era, even where the gambling now happens in a building beside the river rather than on a boat.
The 2019 gambling expansion
For two decades Illinois held its casino count to the ten original riverboat licenses. That changed with a large gambling expansion law in 2019, which authorized six new casinos, including the long debated Chicago casino, plus racing facilities that could add gaming. The new floors have come online in stages. Golden Nugget Danville and Walker’s Bluff in the south opened in 2023, the temporary Bally’s Chicago and American Place in Waukegan opened in temporary buildings while permanent resorts were planned, Hard Rock Rockford opened its permanent casino in 2024, and Wind Creek Chicago Southland followed in the south suburbs late that year. Fairmount Park near Collinsville became the state’s first racino in 2025. This is why the Illinois map has grown so much in a short span, and why two of the floors are still temporary while their full resorts are built.
Sports betting in Illinois
Sports betting is legal and well established in Illinois, both as retail sportsbooks inside the casinos and as online mobile betting. The mobile apps and retail books run through licensed operators and are regulated by the Illinois Gaming Board, and the minimum age is 21, the same as the casino floor. Illinois also allows sportsbooks at certain large sports venues, with a retail book at Wrigley Field in Chicago among them. For a visitor that means you can place a bet at a casino sportsbook, at an approved stadium, or on your phone once you are within the state.
Illinois casino questions
Q. How many casinos are in Illinois?
Sixteen state licensed casinos plus the state's first racino at Fairmount Park, so seventeen gaming floors in all as of 2026. Two of the casinos, Bally's Chicago and American Place in Waukegan, are still operating in temporary buildings while their permanent resorts are built.
Q. What is the minimum gambling age in Illinois?
It is 21 at every Illinois casino and racino, and 21 for sports betting and betting on horse races. The state lottery and bingo are open at 18. Confirm at the venue, since policies can change.
Q. Are there tribal casinos in Illinois?
No. Every casino in Illinois is a commercial casino licensed and regulated by the Illinois Gaming Board. The state has no tribal casinos, which sets it apart from neighbors like Wisconsin and Iowa.
Q. Where are most of Illinois's casinos?
The heaviest concentration is around Chicago, with floors at Des Plaines, the city itself, the south suburbs, Waukegan, Elgin, Aurora, and two at Joliet. A second cluster sits in the Metro East across the Mississippi from St. Louis, and the rest are spread across Rockford, East Peoria, Danville, Rock Island, and the far south.
Q. What is the largest casino in Illinois?
Rivers Casino Des Plaines near O'Hare is the busiest and highest revenue casino in the state. Hard Rock Rockford opened one of the larger newer floors in 2024. Size figures shift with expansions, so they are dated on the individual casino pages rather than fixed here.
Q. Is sports betting legal in Illinois?
Yes, both retail sportsbooks and online mobile betting, run through licensed operators and regulated by the Illinois Gaming Board, for bettors 21 and over. Illinois also allows sportsbooks at some sports venues, including Wrigley Field.
Q. When does the permanent Bally's Chicago casino open?
Bally's has run a temporary casino at the Medinah Temple downtown since September 2023. The permanent resort in the River West neighborhood has slipped past its original 2026 target and is now expected around 2027. Until it opens, the temporary floor is the operating Chicago casino.
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Editorial note
Reviewed by the CasinosMap editorial desk. The casino roster, the commercial only makeup, the operating companies, the racino, and the legal and age facts were checked against current authoritative sources, not prior knowledge. The two temporary casinos and the Bally's Chicago permanent timeline are noted as in flux, and counts are dated and treated as a snapshot.
Byline is a placeholder pending a named author with relevant credentials.
Sources
- Illinois Gaming Board licensed casinos, regulation, minimum age, sports wagering
- Illinois Gaming Board applicant and licensee lists
- American Gaming Association Illinois state gaming overview and minimum age
- Operator and local coverage Wind Creek and Hard Rock 2024 openings, Fairmount Park racino 2025, Bally's Chicago temporary and permanent timeline