The new Video Gambling Act allows municipalities to approve ordinances banning video poker machines within their borders, but Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki said his board believes that opting out would put local restaurants and bars at a disadvantage.
“I’m not a gambler, but there are people who like to do it,” he said. Approving a non-participation ordinance “would push those people out of Tinley Park.”
The act, signed last week by Gov. Pat Quinn, legalizes video gaming machines in bars, restaurants and social clubs, and taxes the revenue they will generate as part of an effort to fund capital construction projects and create jobs.
Other officials and bar owners in the south suburbs were more cautious, wanting to know more about the law before they decide what to do.
Chuck Gatto, proprietor of Gatto’s Restaurant & Bar in New Lenox and Tinley Park, said he is not sure what the requirements will be for the machines and whether they would fit into “the dynamics of my kind of store.” But he also fears that not having them might put his restaurants at a disadvantage — similar to what happened when Tinley Park, Orland Park, and Oak Forest patrons responded to a smoking ban in those communities by going to restaurants in towns that still allowed smoking.
At Larsen’s Corner in Joliet, a video poker machine sits in the corner, but it doesn’t pay out or get much use, said bar manager Cathy Gardner.
She suspects the bar’s owners might “try out” a couple more machines now that state law allows them to pay out.
She remains skeptical whether the machines will bring in more customers.
“I don’t know if people have the money to play those games,” she said.
Judy Riggs, owner of Ridgewood Tap in Homewood, said the machines might attract a larger customer base — which Riggs has seen dwindle since the smoking ban was approved — but she was unsure whether the costs will outweigh the benefits.
“It depends on a lot of things,” she said, adding that she was not sure whether they will be a hit with younger patrons.
Joliet City Manager Tom Thanas said city officials look at the situation primarily from an economic standpoint.
“We already have more than 1,000 slot machines” at the Empress and Harrah’scasinos in Joliet.
Yet, city officials got behind video gambling after casino operators determined the machines cover a separate market.
“I’m not sure if there will be much economic development that takes place in some establishments,” he said.
City leaders have questions about how the law will be implemented.
“The Illinois Gaming Board will be challenged in trying to process the thousands of applications. We’re waiting to see what applications come in,” Thanas said.
The gaming board has till early September to formulate regulations and procedures for the machines.
“We’re just at the beginning,” said spokesman Gene O’Shea. “Until we have the task accomplished, there’s little else we can say.”
Chicago Ridge Mayor Eugene Siegel said he understands the state’s need for more revenue but said he wants to study the law to make sure the devices have limits “that prevent people from spending their entire paychecks.”
He also said he believes the law has the indirect benefit of blocking organized crime from video-poker transactions.
“It takes it out of the hands of some unsavory people,” Siegel said.
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Oversight remains an area fraught with peril, critics say. Licenses could be doled out to those with clout or with unsavory connections, as happened when the state awarded riverboat casino licenses. In Louisiana, where video poker was legalized in the early 1990s, a major corporate player was surreptitiously owned by the mob.
No concrete estimate of tax revenue from video gambling was available. West Virginia, where video poker was legalized in 2001, took in $212 million last year.
Here are key provisions of the Video Gambling Act:
*The state collects 30 percent of net income from each terminal in taxes. Five-sixths of that money goes into a state capital projects fund, and one-sixth goes to a local government fund, with money distributed to municipalities in proportion to the video gambling tax revenue generated within their boundaries.
*The state also collects licensing fees from manufacturers, distributors, operators, technicians and others involved with the gambling terminals.
*Half of the after-tax profit of a gaming terminal goes to the operator, which owns and maintains the machines, and half to the licensed establishment.
*No one under 21 may use a video gaming terminal.
*Municipalities may ban video gambling within their borders, and counties may ban them in unincorporated areas. Bans also could come by referendum measure initiated by petitions signed by at least 25 percent of legal voters in a municipality. .
Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar said the village would move to ban video gambling, while Oak Lawn City Manager Larry Deetjen said village attorneys are reviewing the law. Orland Park has no plans to address the issue.
Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer said in a news release Tuesday that she soon will introduce a proposal to prohibit video gambling in unincorporated areas of the county. She said jobs created by the construction projects that the gaming is funding will be “negated by the paychecks wiped out by video poker” and increased costs for law enforcement.
In Steger, Frank Elton said he probably will remove the entertainment-only video poker machines at his Bambino’s restaurant once the law takes effect. He said the state tax, coupled with the cost of the new machines, will require businesses to take in $1,000 a day to be profitable.
“I think the state is going to take a bath on this,” he said.
Tom Maher, commander of VFW Post 450 in Alsip, said his organization uses the proceeds from its entertainment-only video poker machines to donate thousands of dollars annually to charity. The new law will change that, he said.
“By the time the state takes its cut, we won’t have anything to give away,” Maher said, adding it was “more than likely” that the local VFW will not use the machines for gambling.
The Village of Alsip has no plans to enact a ban, said Mayor Patrick Kitching, who added that he understands the state’s need for more revenue. “If it gets to be a problem,” he said, “I guarantee this Village Board will act.”
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$300 million to $641 million
Estimated yearly revenue analysts say that Illinois can collect from as many as 45,000 video gambling machines.
UPWARD OF $13,500
The estimated social recovery cost of a single pathological gambler, according to a 2001 economics study.
ABOUT 1 year
The amount of time it takes men and women who “got hooked” on video gambling to become compulsive gamblers, according to a 2002 Rhode Island Gambling Treatment Program research paper.
ABOUT 3 1/2 years
The amount of time it takes men and women who “got hooked” on other types of gambling (horses, sports betting, blackjack, etc.) to become compulsive gamblers.