This Cook County casino facility opened its doors back in 2011 as the state of Illinois’ tenth riverboat casino. The casino is also the final state’s casino of this kind to open its doors. At the time of its opening, the casino’s operators were required to fully comply with the state regulator’s floating provision in order to be granted all of the necessary gaming licenses to operate in the first place. This floating provision that the casino complied with licensed its casino floor located above a pit of water.

The Tenth and the Last Illinois Riverboat Casino

The casino is located in Des Plaines of Chicago just several minutes from O’Hare International Airport. The majority owner of the venue with sixty-two percent of the stakes is Churchill Downs Inc. while Rush Street Gaming has the remaining thirty-eight stakes in the property. Its history goes back to 2008 when the Illinois Gaming Board awarded the tenth and the final riverboat casino license to a group owned by Neil Bluhm, Midwest Gaming and Entertainment LLC.

Once Midwest Gaming and Entertainment LLC was granted all of the necessary licenses, the construction of the 140,000 square-foot casino floor started on around twenty-one acres of land located near the Tri-State Tollway at Des Plaines River Road and Devon Avenue. While the property was granted the mandatory gaming license in 2008, it was approved zoning by the city two years later. Finally, it opened its doors on the 18^th of July, 2011.

The Chicago-Area Casino Becoming the State’s Top Gambling Destination

Shortly after the Chicago-region casino venue opened its doors, it has become the state’s top gambling destination which accumulates staggering gross gaming revenues exceeding $400 million regularly. The things have changed after the state’s Governor Mr. Pritzker signed new legislation in June this year. Besides bringing many different changes, the new legislation also eliminated the previously active floating provision while it started a process that will see up to six more casino venues opening their doors within the state’s borders soon.

The new legislation would probably see around two thousand new gaming positions. Today, Rivers Casino Des Plaines offers one thousand and two hundred gaming positions while the addition of one hundred and twenty units is undergoing. This expansion, in particular, is possible as the casino was granted official permission by the state’s gaming regulator.

It was reported that the casino’s officials are already working on adding these additional units which could include new gaming tables, new slot machines and other features to areas of the casino floor which is not located above water. Moreover, this new authorization came with a great licensing fee worth around $250K while the casino’s expansion plans exceed $150 million.

Commenting on the news, the casino’s spokesperson Patrick Skarr said that this Illinois-based venue will be adding new games by managing its existing casino floor before the casino’s big expansion plan comes into place. He also added that the upgraded casino floor will also include new features such as sports bar once the venue receives mandatory approval by the Illinois Gaming Board.

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Before unveiling its plan for building a brand-new gambling facility in this area, the American operator has partnered with Churchill Downs Incorporated, which is also focused on gaming, online gaming, and entertainment industry. The company has evolved from a small racetrack in Kentucky to a multi-billion worth company with multiple casinos and racetracks across the United States.

With more than four thousand employees, Churchill Downs Incorporated is one of the leading, United States-based companies in its industry. It started its business after opening one of the most legendary racetracks in Kentucky back in 1875. Shortly after, the company created its Kentucky Jockey Club with more tracks added in the following years.

Launching TwinSpires Wagering Service

When it comes to its online gaming and gaming industry-related businesses, Churchill Downs Incorporated, the company started operating a gaming facility in 2010. Three years prior to this in 2007, Churchill Downs Incorporated launched its wagering service named TwinSpires which is now the official deposit service for all of the company’s racetracks and other business ventures including both the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby.

In December of 2012, the company purchased another gambling facility, the Oxford Casino situated in Maine for around $160 million. Two years later, the company’s officials decided to purchase twenty-five percent of shares in the Saratoga Casino Holdings company and signed a business deal to manage popular Saratoga Casino and Raceway, Capital View Casino and Resort and Saratoga Casino Black Hawk.

In order to expand its presence in the gaming industry, Churchill Downs Incorporated purchased a developer of casual casino games, Big Fish Games for around $885 million. Later on, it also partnered with Saratoga to acquire a racing track and casino, Ocean Downs located in Maryland. In February of 2018, the company also agreed to purchase two other casinos, Lady Luck Casino Vicksburg located in Mississippi and Presque Isle Downs located in Pennsylvania.

Partnering with Rush Street Gaming

The company’s latest partner Rush Street Gaming also overseas multiple casino properties all over the United States. It was founded back in 2009 in Chicago where it operates today among other cities. Rush Street Gaming was the very first online gaming operator based in the United States to launch a fully regulated and licenses sportsbetting platform in South America, Columbia. The company operates a number of gambling facilities and its plan is to open and operate one in Waukegan alongside Churchill Downs Incorporated.

The latest plan revealed regarding this venue reveals that this more than 1,620-seats gaming venue would also include a massive poker room alongside a gastro-pub on thirty-two cares in the southwestern suburbs. The company also revealed that this venue would create full-time jobs for more than one thousand and two hundred people in addition to creating more than nine hundred construction jobs. Rush Street Gaming and Churchill Downs Incorporated are yet to be given permissions to build while five other companies have also applied. All in all, the state’s officials will soon submit their final recommendations.

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