\nAug. 29 (Bloomberg) \u2014 The Sweet Pop Fizz Candy Bar in East Dundee, Illinois, offers gelato, hand-painted chocolates \u2014 and slot machines, two of them, ready to play between sips of a craft beer.<\/p>\n
\tSince the state authorized bars and other places that serve booze to install slot machines two years ago, the number has skyrocketed to more than 18,000 and now exceeds those in the state\u2019s 10 casinos by 60 percent. The count is rising by several hundred a month, even with some cities, including Chicago, barring them.<\/p>\n
\tThe rapid growth is bad news for the $1.6 billion Illinois casino industry and operators such as Caesars Entertainment Corp., Penn National Gaming Inc. and Boyd Gaming Corp., which are losing customers to the new, more convenient competitors. The Illinois Casino Gaming Association, representing casinos, is fighting legislation that would double the number of machines in truck stops and is now pushing to restrict the expansion.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe underestimated the kind of impact it was going to have,\u201d said Tom Swoik, executive director of the Springfield- based association. \u201cWe thought by putting a limit on the number of devices it wouldn\u2019t hurt us much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe Illinois Video Gambling Act of 2009 allowed establishments that serve alcohol to install as many as five slot machines per location. The goal was to raise taxes, help struggling bars and fraternal organizations, and thwart illegal machines, according to state Senator Dave Syverson, a Rockford Republican who supported the measure.<\/p>\n
\tMinor Threat<\/p>\n
\tAt the time, casinos were fighting efforts that would have increased the number of traditional gambling halls and added slots at racetracks, Swoik said in a telephone interview. The casinos saw a few machines in taverns as a minor threat.<\/p>\n
\tA taxpayer lawsuit and the development of regulations stalled the introduction until late 2012. Since then, businesses have put slot machines in more than 4,400 locations, according to the Illinois Gaming Board, including a scuba store, a shop that sells swimming-pool supplies and a florist, all of which serve alcohol.<\/p>\n
\tThe Sweet Pop Fizz Candy Bar in East Dundee, about 40 miles northwest of Chicago, is \u201can adult candy store\u201d with slots like Reel Rich Devil that offer customers a little extra fun, said owner Robert \u201cBuzz\u201d Doyle, who doesn\u2019t advertise the devices.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThey are here in case the guests do want to try them,\u201d Doyle said.<\/p>\n
\tSlot machine manufacturers, including International Game Technology and Bally Technologies, have reported higher sales in Illinois. So have the tavern owners.<\/p>\n
\tTony Mossuto, owner of the Double Play Saloon in the Chicago suburb of Blue Island, said bars have struggled to cope with higher liquor taxes and a 2008 smoking ban. His five slot machines have attracted a new, older clientele that is keeping his establishment open and 10 employees working.<\/p>\n
\tSaved Industry<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt\u2019s saved our industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tCasino revenue in Illinois fell 5.3 percent in 2013, the first full year with the new competition. Sales fell similarly in July, marking 11 straight months of decline, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data. The first casino opened in the state in 1991.<\/p>\n
\tLas Vegas-based Boyd, which owns the Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino in East Peoria, cited the burgeoning competition as one reason for a shortfall in second-quarter profit.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAnd it is not ending,\u201d Chief Executive Officer Keith Smith said on a July 31 conference call.<\/p>\n
\tCasino operators are now focused on keeping truck stops from having more than five machines and developing restrictions that limit the competition to places like bars and social clubs.<\/p>\n
\tCurbs Sought<\/p>\n
\tOne proposal would limit slots to stores that get at least 60 percent of their revenue from food and beverages, according to Swoik. That would prevent slots from popping up in gas stations and other types of retailers that weren\u2019t meant to offer gambling under the original law, he said.<\/p>\n
\tSyverson, the legislator who sponsored the truck stop expansion bill, said long-haul drivers, many of them from out of state, are waiting in line to play the limited number of slot machines. Still, he said he\u2019s willing to work with the casinos to establish some limits and will reintroduce legislation in the next session.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI\u2019m trying to reach a compromise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) \u2014 The Sweet Pop Fizz Candy Bar in East Dundee, Illinois, offers gelato, hand-painted chocolates \u2014 and slot machines, two of them, ready to play between sips of a craft beer. Since the state authorized bars and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7936\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}