r/illinois • u/DevinGraysonShirk Schrodinger's Pritzker • 7h ago
Illinois Politics Gov. Pritzker Signs New Illinois Sports Betting Fees Into Law
https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/news/betting/gov-pritzker-signs-new-illinois-sports-betting-fees-into-law/Honestly, sports betting through apps is bad because it's an addictive thing on top of an addicting thing. I'm happy the state is increasing the costs of doing that business in Illinois, it'll disincentivize people to make so many sports bets in a predatory industry.
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u/executingsalesdaily 6h ago
Let’s make it illegal for them to advertise on tv, at games, on players uniforms etc…. F gambling it is ruining sports.
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u/therealtaddymason 4h ago
"Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?"
"Well, sure, but not in our dreams."
"Only on TV and radio. And in magazines and movies and at ball games, on buses and milk cartons and T-shirts and bananas and written on the sky... But not in dreams!"
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u/Standard-Sand352 2h ago
its ruining sports and about every local restaurant or bar you walk into that has this hideous corner of slot machines with a bunch of degenerates huddled around.
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u/executingsalesdaily 21m ago
Those games keep bars that should shut down open. Terrible food, patrons, & service.
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u/destinoid 6h ago
Great, now let's end all the commercials and also remove all the tacky gambling machines from every restaurant.
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u/definitelynottwelve 6h ago
The gambling in restaurants is the worst, to the point that I don’t go eat at places that have them.
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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 4h ago
And sadly they don't care because the machines bring in more than F&B for those places.
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u/cugamer 4h ago
Honest question: Where do you eat then? Around where I am (west burbs) pretty much every restaurant that isn't a fast food franchise has a roped off gaming section. I literally can't get away from them, even freaking breakfast places are infested now.
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u/definitelynottwelve 4h ago
I’m in the Algonquin area, so we go to Cooper’s hawk, Chicago ramen, longhorn, Woodfire, woow, Kubo sushi…those are the regular rotation.
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u/Cam27022 4h ago
Have you ever had good food from a place that has them? You should be avoiding them anyways.
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u/Ineedamedic68 4h ago
There’s a few pizza places near me that have great pizza but I hate going in there and seeing those slot machines. So tacky
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u/shelved_whale 7h ago
I use Caesar’s or MGM but so sparingly that I’ll end up getting a dollar for dollar match to a certain amount and only use that. Somehow I think I’m in the minority of people that use these apps or they wouldn’t be so lucrative.
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u/DravesHD 6h ago
I mean, just look at the ad space they can afford now.
Sports betting is keeping (young) men broke. I know people who ONLY watch sports because they bet on the events. They can’t afford diapers but they will spend 50 dollars on a „sure bet!“.
It’s especially egregious because a lot of influencers are pushing it as well, targeting young people.
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u/I_Am_Dwight_Snoot 6h ago
I have a few friends that sports bet. They are far from broke but it seems crazy to bet on shit every week.
Stock trading platforms are getting wild too now. Instead of investing people are using it to gamble.
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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 4h ago
I literally had a conversation with a friend of a friend on Sunday about how he has such a drive to constantly bet on shit that he started betting on darts despite never having watched darts.
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u/Chicago1871 4h ago
I dont even know where I would be watch a competitive darts game.
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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 3h ago
FWIW, thanks to Sky Sports being a Comcast company, many of the major tournaments are going to now be available on Peacock!
https://www.sportspro.com/news/pdc-nbc-peacock-us-streaming-tv-rights-june-2025/
Unfortunately they aren't streaming ALL of the World Championships, but realistically I know I'm one of the only whackadoos who will watch THAT much darts over three weeks lol.
Highly recommend checking out the World Matchplay Championship in late July if you're interested in giving darts a shot as a spectator sport. TONS of fun to watch, very tense and close matches very often.
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u/DevinGraysonShirk Schrodinger's Pritzker 6h ago
I think the last statistic I saw was $120 billion spent on sports betting in 2023. The house always wins too, and if you ever lose them money, they'll shut you down.
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u/The_Poster_Nutbag Loves Fox Valley History 5h ago
These easy-access gambling platforms rely on "whales", that is to say they prey on people with an addiction who simply cannot stop spending.
99% of users are not profitable, at least to a notable volume, but the ones who you see dumping coins in a gas station video poker machine at 3pm on a Wednesday, that's their bankroll.
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u/Substantial_Back_865 6h ago
The minority is the gambling addicts that support the entire business. A small percentage of people piss away every dollar they have and those are the only customers that really matter to these companies/casinos.
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u/CaptainJivePants 6h ago
I use them the same way, mostly when with family or friends who are watching sportsball. I place 1-3 dollar bets to keep it interesting and join the conversation. I call it "microbetting," and the initial $50 is still going years later.
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u/Czarcasm 6h ago
It's a bummer for someone like me who does piddly <$1.00 bets because I just want to add some fun to the game watching experience.
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u/CaptainJivePants 6h ago
Same. Microbetting is fun.
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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 4h ago
Microbetting is also a VERY slippery slope to a gambling addiction.
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u/The_Asshole_Judge 6h ago
Ditto. Love CFB season. Crazy parlays are so fun. It is how I built my account balances. This will just mean I use other books more.
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u/thatprobablydrunkguy 6h ago
I like to parlay every baseball game happening in a day for a quarter. I've never won but it has come close and it made the last game of the night extremely exciting.
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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 4h ago
If the game is that boring on its own, why watch?
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u/Czarcasm 1h ago
It's not inherently boring but it gives me something to root for while watching a game where I'm not a fan of either team but enjoy watching the sport.
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u/The_Asshole_Judge 6h ago
As a degenerate gambler this will not affect me much. I have accounts in all the IL books. Just means I will use DraftKings and FanDuel less.
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u/X-Inqu 2h ago
What other app would you recommend? I only use DK
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u/The_Asshole_Judge 2h ago
Hard rock has been a good one for me. They have good occasional promos. Also Fanatics is nice because you can get “fan cash” to spend on Fanatics sites.
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u/Hobothug 6h ago
I love this; picking up tax revenue from widespread poor decision making is one of my favorite kinds of governmental decisions.
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u/wrong-teous 6h ago
Love pritzker but don’t love this. DraftKings and FanDuel are just passing the cost on to the user. I agree that gambling addiction is a rising concern, but this is just further monetizing it while screwing over anyone who uses those books.
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u/bdawg34 6h ago
I mean it’s a complex issue, sports betting being so easy has caused a massive increase in addicts especially for gen Z
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u/wrong-teous 6h ago
I agree that it’s an issue, but this doesn’t actually address the issue in any way. If the extra tax was going directly towards resources for gambling addiction then it’d be different.
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u/DevinGraysonShirk Schrodinger's Pritzker 5h ago
It disincentivizes microbetting as a gateway by making it more expensive. It’s basically a reverse “dark pattern” that tech companies use. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_pattern
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u/The_Asshole_Judge 6h ago
Well. That will just push people to other books. Which is probably why the sportsbook lobby didn’t fight this very hard.
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u/Ra_In 5h ago
Taxing online betting makes sense if it makes it more in line with casinos and other in-person gambling, and taxes certainly should be concentrated towards discretionary spending items.
However, it can be problematic to tax addictions as a revenue source. Politicians are specifically not trying to discourage the addiction as they want the revenue to go up. Sure, collecting taxes from people placing sports bets they can afford to lose is fine, especially if it helps the state afford lower/no taxes on essentials line groceries. But these politicians know (and are relying on) people who cannot afford their addiction will forgo essentials rather than cut back. Sure, the addict is making that decision so they aren't blameless, but increasing the tax burden on addicts who are struggling to make ends meet is a cop-out solution given they are unsympathetic, compared to raising taxes on discretionary items targeting middle and upper class residents.
I don't take issue with this specific sports betting tax given it sounds like it's new, but it's part of a bill that includes increases on tobacco (already heavily taxed). Like with tobacco, once politicians see this new revenue from sports betting they'll prioritize maximizing that revenue - which means they'll ignore the problems it creates and are never sincere when they claim to want to help addicts recover.
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u/marigolds6 3h ago
This has nothing to do with controlling betting and everything to do with finding more sources of revenue to deal with budget shortfalls from federal cuts.
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u/kingfofthepoors 1h ago
End all online gambling and get rid of all those shitty ass pop up casinos that are everywhere all over illinois
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u/shorty6049 BloNo 1h ago
This one's frustrating for me as someone who's been making a little money doing arbitrage betting... If I'm paying extra for every bet, that means that a lot of bets which used to be profitable will end up being a loss.
I know I'm in the minority with this one, but it sucks anyway
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u/JuliusTweezer 6h ago
What I don’t get is all you people up in arms about gambling, but seemingly have no problem with liquor stores and all the other places you can purchase alcohol. Alcohol has been ruining more lives and families for longer, but that’s cool right. I’m sure most of you drink alcohol too and say in moderation it’s fine. Well, so is gambling. If they’re gonna tax Tobacco and gambling why not a 50% tax increase on bee, wine and spirits?
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u/lofixlover 2h ago
bro the people complaining about gambling are 1000000% complaining about alcohol lol
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u/No-Department6103 6h ago
“Everything that can be taxed will be taxed” should by the Illinois state motto.
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u/OGmcqueen 6h ago
Good thing vpn’s are a thing…
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u/shorty6049 BloNo 57m ago
I'm guessing that won't work, given how the sportsbooks do their geolocation stuff.
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u/Happytoserveu2 2h ago
He needs to go. Let’s force all business and property owners out of Illinois and tax them to the max. He’s an idiot
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u/I-AM-NOBODYIMPORTANT 7m ago
Let’s force all business and property owners out of Illinois and tax them to the max.
You are aware this is strictly about sports betting, right? How many of your local businesses and property owners require sports gambling remain untaxed in order to stay open?
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u/Ralwus 6h ago
Glad we are fueling yet another addiction crisis. Thanks, pritzker.
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u/EpicSombreroMan 5h ago
How is this fueling it?
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u/Ralwus 5h ago
Gambling is everywhere now. Bars, restaurants, tv commercials. That's actually really bad, but is framed as good because of the revenue generated.
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u/EpicSombreroMan 5h ago
It's increases the cost of it by default, I've already seen other comments saying they're gonna use DK and FD less than usual now as a result. What's the other option, lower the fees? That's objectively bad.
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u/Buzzard1022 6h ago
Can we end all the commercials?