OAK LAWN, Ill. (AP) – Several southern Chicago suburbs are enacting new rules to curb the spread of video gambling businesses.
Data from the Illinois Gaming Board show patrons of gambling businesses in 14 south and southwest suburbs that have the biggest concentration of gambling machines spent more than $150 million through August this year, The Daily Southtown (http://trib.in/2cUY5Jq ) reported. Gamblers over that same time span incurred losses of more than $39 million.
In the southern suburbs, video gambling spawned a hybrid business, referred to as gambling boutiques, cafes or gambling parlors, where the slots are the primary money maker and food and beverages are secondary.
Communities that have set new rules or plan to include New Lenox, Crestwood and Tinley Park.
New Lenox officials approved an ordinance in February aimed at freezing out gambling cafes It requires a business that has gambling to earn more than 60 percent of its annual gross revenue from non-video gambling sources.
“It makes the model closer to what we want it to be,” Mayor Tim Baldermann said. “We want to help existing businesses be successful.”
