Beneath the surface, Rivers has paid substantial dividends for the city through improved sewers, water mains and other far from glamorous infrastructure projects. Slots pay for sewers in Des Plainesĭespite having the top-grossing casino in the state, Des Plaines is still a long way from Las Vegas, with few visible signs of a gambling windfall. Rush Street Gaming is among the bidders for a Waukegan casino license. “That’s because of all the new competition.” “We’re going to spend probably $150 million or more to expand Des Plaines, and we doubt that we will make as much revenue as we’re making today,” Bluhm said.

Louis and the Grand Victoria in Elgin also applied for 800 additional gambling positions, the gaming board said.Ĭhicago real estate developer Neil Bluhm, whose Rush Street Gaming built and operates Rivers Casino - despite selling a 61% stake to Louisville-based Churchill Downs in March - said casino revenues in Des Plaines have likely topped out. Harrah’s Joliet & Metropolis, the Casino Queen in East St. The Des Plaines casino has applied to increase its number of gambling positions from 1,200 to 2,000 - the maximum allowed by the expansion bill - in a bid to maintain revenue and offset the draw of new casinos. Rivers brought in $440 million in adjusted gross receipts during fiscal 2019, more than double the $175 million of its nearest competitor, Harrah’s Joliet.

“The new casinos are going to do more to take business from existing casinos than they are to grow the market as a whole.” “If you put casinos in Rockford and Waukegan, there will be casino patrons who previously went to casinos in the Chicago area that will now be staying closer to home,” Fantini said. Adding six new casinos will likely hurt the existing ones, according to gambling industry consultant Frank Fantini.

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