More Games, More People, Fewer Masks As Illinois, Casinos Ready To Enter Phase 5

Written By Joe Boozell on June 3, 2021
illinois casinos phase 5

According to & nbsp, Gov. Illinois is scheduled to begin Phase 5 opening on June 11. earlier this month, JB Pritzker. All remaining potential restrictions won’t apply during the following and last reopening phase.

That’s excellent news for the 10 casinos in Illinois. They’ve either been closed entirely or operating at limited capacity since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, Illinois casinos are open at 60% capacity. Illinois entered the “Bridge Phase” on May 14, which bumped up capacity limits from 50% to 60%.

On June 11, no all Illinois games will be fully operational, but they will probably open soon after.

Here are the top ten games in Illinois:

  • Alton’s Argosy Casino
  • East St. Louis’ Casino Queen is home to DraftKings.
  • Elgin’s Grand Victoria Casino
  • Casino Harrah & rsquo, Joliet
  • Casino Harrah & rsquo, Metropolis
  • Aurora Casino in Hollywood
  • Hollywood Casino, Juliet
  • Rock Island’s Jumer & rsquo Casino & amp Hotel
  • East Peoria’s Par A – Die Casino
  • Des Plaines’ Rivers Casino

Is a face required to be worn at the casino?

According to CDC recommendations, if you have received the recommended COVID-19 vaccination, faces are no longer necessary at the majority of casinos in Illinois. As potential limits increase, we anticipate that coverage will remain in place.

Additionally, food and beverage service is now allowed at the features. It wasn’t for a sizable portion of the crisis.

Are poker rooms in Illinois empty?

As of mid-May, Illinois poker rooms have the green light to reopen. However, only one has taken advantage thus far.

That is Hollywood Casino Aurora, which reopened its poker room on May 21. Grand Victoria Casino Elgin plans to reopen its poker room soon, though no firm date is known.

In the meantime, Jumer & rsquo’s Casino & amp, Hotel hasn’t updated its poker room status.

No more limitations on card sports?

Currently, “congregating” around table games (craps, roulette, blackjack, etc.) and carnival games is prohibited at casinos, per the Illinois Gaming Board website.

That may no longer be the situation once we enter Phase 5. Each game, however, has the option to create its own laws and remove this restriction.

It shouldn’t be the case if you & rsquo visited a casino during the pandemic and noticed that all other slot machines were shut down.

Once more, the games will have the option of deciding whether or not they want to uphold the law. However, one would anticipate them to provide the most reliable playing experience.

What is the COVID – 19 situation in Illinois & rsquo?

Thanks to enhanced COVID-19 and immunisation metrics, casinos is now fully resume.

On Tuesday, The Land of Lincoln reported just 401 new situations and eight fatalities, while optimism levels are still at all-time lows. Illinois’ hospitalization rate is also at an all-time lower.

Meanwhile, more than 12 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have been given in the state. About 40% of Illinoisans are fully vaccinated.

Will there ever be an online casino in Illinois?

There is some legislative momentum for online casinos in Illinois. However, expanded internet gaming did not pass in the recent May session.

Having said that, there is cause to think Illinois could have online casinos in the future. The Senatepassed a resolution calling for a report into how much revenue that online casinos could have generated had they been live prior to COVID-19.

That indicates that the government is interested in learning more. Additionally, some significant numbers have already been included in the House and Senate’s introduction of online game legislation.

While it’s good news that brick-and-mortar games are reopening, online games would give them another dependable source of income. The game industry was especially hard hit by COVID-19, and without an online existence, they suffered the most.

Therefore, the Land of Lincoln won’t had any online gambling in the near future. However, if you look a couple years in the future, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see an active Illinois online casino industry.

Pictures taken from an AP report
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Boozell, Joe

Boozell, Joe has also been a college sports writer for NCAA.com since 2015. His work has also appeared in Bleacher Report, FoxSports.com and NBA.com. Growing up, Boozell squared off against both Anthony Davis and Frank Kaminsky in the Chicagoland basketball scene … you can imagine how that went.

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