Video Gambling in Washington

In June 2012, the Washington City Council started the process of allowing video gambling terminals in establishments.  As a municipality, Washington first banned gambling in 1908 as a movement toward “municipal purity” that included local prohibition.   100 years later, the allowance of video gambling became a possibility with the passing of the Illinois Video Gaming Act of 2009.  In 2012, Illinois started issuing licenses to establishments for video gaming machines, as they stood to collect 30% of the revenue from them. 5% was set to go to the local government, which Mayor Gary Manier predicted would mean around $25,000 per year to the city.

When the matter came up for a vote at the July 2, 2012, City Council meeting, residents attended and voiced their opposition to the proposed ordinance allowing video gambling in Washington, calling it “a tax on the poor,” among other things.  The Council voted 4-2 to lift the city’s ban on video gaming.

Once passed, the city was besieged with businesses applying for permits to have the machines and others now asking for liquor licenses. Kep’s Sports Bar was the first Washington business to obtain a state and city license. Seven other establishments had also applied, causing the city to place a moratorium on new applications at the end of 2012. 

The moratorium was lifted in early 2013, and stricter regulations were implemented to grant a license for video gaming. These new regulations, requiring a Class A liquor license for the machines, affected only one of the eight businesses that had applied for a license: House of Beans, a coffee shop in Sunnyland Plaza. House of Beans would subsequently close its doors by the end of 2013.

Things went smoothly for a few years, with the city receiving $50,000 per year from the machines, when a proposal was made again to tighten the restrictions on the allowance of licenses.  This was in response to the emergence of video gambling cafés that had been springing up in nearby towns.  The city wanted to avoid an establishment existing solely for gambling, so in late 2017, the ordinance was strengthened to reflect the city’s stance.

In 2019, as the city of Washington searched for revenue for infrastructure projects, establishment owner fees were raised from $25 to $50 per machine. In addition, machine owners, who previously had not been charged anything but were taking close to $500,000 in revenue from the city each year in gaming activity, would now pay a $500 annual video gaming license and $500 per machine.

In late 2021, Beck’s gas station in Washington added video gambling machines under the state law that truck stops were allowed to house them. This superseded the city ordinance that an establishment had to have a Class A liquor license. Truck stops can have up to 10 machines, while the other establishments in Washington have a limit of 6 machines.

Below is a breakdown of the revenue generated for the city from video gambling machines in Washington from September 2012 through Marck, 2025:

Establishment---$ to City

Katy T’s/Blue Ox  $108,782.33

Kep’s Sports Bar  $159,103.83

Knickerbocker's  $72,137.15

Christy’s Place  $143,531.71

Parish’s Pub  $120,640.37

Plaza Lanes  $48,241.43

Brickhouse  $54.754.91

Gracie's  $15,622.04

Bernardi’s  $20,349.22

VFW  $39,310.95

4th & Goal Grille  $7,965.92

Blacksmith  $235.40

Mariachi Mexican Restaurant $5,552.52

W Down Under $24,423.69

Beck's $191,776.24

*source: Illinois Gaming Board

In 2009, Illinois was in a financial crisis and took a gamble on video gambling, and it has failed miserably.  Revenue has not come close to what proponents predicted, and the gambling companies have taken more than anticipated.  In addition, with the gambling machines taking gamblers out of the casinos, revenue generated from those establishments earmarked for education declined significantly, resulting in over a 20% decline in funds for public education. Also, the state has had to divert almost $100 million to the Illinois Gaming Board to keep up with the new work created.   All of this has contributed to Illinois, in 2021, being in worse financial shape than it was in 2009.  However, the machines have been fantastic for the local businesses that house them; we can be grateful for that.