Adjusted gross revenue from Illinois casinos rose 16% year over year to $132.1 million in September. It was a nearly $20 million improvement from the same month in 2022 ($113.8 million) and $8 million higher than August revenue ($124.4 million).
The state is now up 11.5% in adjusted revenue in the first nine months in 2023 compared to 2022. This year from January through September, casinos reported $1.120 billion adjusted gross revenue, while they generated $1.004 billion last year.
Bulk of revenue originates from Illinois slot machines
September numbers are welcome news for the 14 Illinois casinos. The monthly report from the Illinois Gaming Board reveals that $115.3 million adjusted gross revenue (AGR) came from slot machine play. Most of that came from the most popular play on the gaming floor: $72.1 million of revenue was from penny slot games. That’s 54.5% of all AGR, and more than 62% of all slot revenue.
There are more than 10,800 slot machines in Illinois casinos, ranging from 1-cent to $100 per play. Currently, two out of three slot machines in Illinois are penny slots. Dollar slots (at $13.8 million) were second to penny slots in popularity.
Roughly $30 million AGR came from table games in September, which includes these leading games:
- BlackJack 21 Plus 3: $5.28 million AGR
- Mini-Baccarat: $4.73 million
- Craps: $4.64 million
- Roulette: $4.57 million
- BlackJack 21: $3.89 million
BlackJack 21 Plus 3, a popular table game that tacks on a side bet option to traditional blackjack, took in nearly 20% of all table game AGR in September.
Rivers Casino continues to dominate in revenue
Rivers Casino just outside Chicago is still the leading casino in Illinois when it comes to revenue. In September, it collected more than the next four casinos combined.
- Rivers Casino: $41.4 million
- Grand Victoria Casino: $12.4 million
- Harrah’s Joliet Casino & Hotel: $10.9 million
- Hollywood Casino Aurora: $8.3 million
- The Temporary by American Place: $7.8 million
- Hollywood Casino Joliet: $7.0 million
- Bally’s Chicago: $6.6 million
- DraftKings at Casino Queen: $6.4 million
- Hard Rock Casino Rockford: $5.7 million
- Harrah’s Metropolis Casino: $5.3 million
- Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel: $5.2 million
- Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino: $4.9 million
- Golden Nugget Danville: $3.3 million
- Argosy Casino Alton: $2.9 million
- Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort: $2.8 million
Rivers Casino has now reported $406.4 million AGR in 2023. That represents a whopping 36.2% of all gaming activity in the state. Grand Victoria Casino is the only other venue to have topped $100 million through September at $112.6 million.
Bally’s Chicago, the first casino in Chicago, had three full weeks at its temporary home in Medinah Temple, the historic building located on N. Wabash Avenue. It performed very well, recording $6.6 million in gaming gross receipts, and could be poised to move up among the top three to five casinos in the state once it has a full month.
Casinos have paid $216.6 million in taxes in the first nine months of 2023 from gaming activity. There has been $64.3 million paid to local governments, which is $7.7 million more than the same period in 2022. In all, casinos have made tax payments of $281 million so far this year.
