Do you think its alarming that a state is profiting a lot fom gambling?

[aioc]

The state of Illinois just generated $2.7 billion in gambling revenue in fiscal year 2026. At the same time, gamblers lost a lot of money since the city council lifted the ban on video gaming terminals.

Based on the report, video game terminals are now approaching 50k, and it's flooding Chicago. Do you think it's alarming that the state profits from gambling, and they don't impose restrictions on the number of betting stations, thereby growing the number of gamblers and the money they are losing?

"When [video gaming terminals] were first introduced in 2012, people expected that that would plateau at 20,00 but there's no limited on how many establishments in the state can have them," she said. "Now we're approaching 50,000 and we're about to see that flood into Chicago, as the City Council just lifted the long time ban on video gaming terminals there."

Dougherty said sports betting is now the fastest growing form of gambling in Illinois, especially parlays.

Illinois gamblers lost more money last year than ever before

The thread will be locked in 48 hours.

[Oshosondy]

Or you want to ask if it is alarming that people are losing money to gambling? I do not see anything wrong or alarming in the governments that are making huge amount of money from gambling. It is people that should be disciplined and gamble responsibly and knowing that the money deposit on gambling sites or used for gambling have high probability to be lost. The government will be happy and not really care about people that are losing.

[Russlenat]

The state of Illinois just generated $2.7 billion in gambling revenue in fiscal year 2026. At the same time, gamblers lost a lot of money since the city council lifted the ban on video gaming terminals.

Just one distinction though, that $2.7 billion does not mean it's the gamblers' total losses, but it's just the taxes and related revenue collected by the government from gambling operators.

based on the report, video game terminals are now approaching 50k, and it's flooding Chicago. Do you think it's alarming that the state profits from gambling, and they don't impose restrictions on the number of betting stations, thereby growing the number of gamblers and the money they are losing?

"When [video gaming terminals] were first introduced in 2012, people expected that that would plateau at 20,00 but there's no limited on how many establishments in the state can have them," she said. "Now we're approaching 50,000 and we're about to see that flood into Chicago, as the City Council just lifted the long time ban on video gaming terminals there."

Dougherty said sports betting is now the fastest growing form of gambling in Illinois, especially parlays.

Illinois gamblers lost more money last year than ever before

The thread will be locked in 48 hours.

There was a massive increase in revenue as it increased by 19% compared to the previous year. So we can say that the government is really aggressive in allowing gambling operations, but it's not a problem as long as gambling addiction does not increase or reach an alarming level.

The state also has a self-exclusion program and other measures to combat gambling addiction, so as long as they can maintain these programs and ensure they are effective, there's nothing wrong with growing revenue as that means businesses are booming, hopefully a win-win for everyone involved ( gamblers, operators, government).

[fighter2627]

Here in our country the Government has a program which is a charity but the funds come directly from a legal gambling which is lottery and many citizens are helped, except for the administration we have now which has totally no concern for the citizens under its jurisdiction.

So if the government benefits a lot from legal gambling's then that is normal especially if they pay the right taxes to the government. So for me it is not alarming.
But those who are addicted to gambling whose lives are ruined are the ones who are alarming in my opinion.

[Davidvictorson]

Obviously, one gambler’s loss is the operator’s gain. That is the simple gambling math. The house only works if players lose more than they win.

A couple of questions I have.

1. Where is the revenue going?
2. What gambling regulations does Illinois actually have in place?

If the money is going into programs, including responsible gambling awareness, then in my estimation that is a good thing. But if not, they need to fix that. Also, having no limit on the number of terminals is a problem. Going from an expected 20,000 to almost 50,000 shows nobody is controlling the growth, something they must look into regardless of the revenue increase.

[Hewlet]

So if the government benefits a lot from legal gambling's then that is normal especially if they pay the right taxes to the government. So for me it is not alarming.
But those who are addicted to gambling whose lives are ruined are the ones who are alarming in my opinion.

The truth is that your life is in your hands and whatever action you take, you should be ready to face the consequences of your actions because no one will bear the brunt for you. their are a lot of other business that are running in same state and that are generating revenue for the state. when the business looses, no one cares but when they profit from the business, they are expected to pay tax. it is basically how the system is designed and rather than playing the blame game, it is better to focus on what you can control and that s by ensuring that you are not an addict and that you are not loosing too much.

[ArabBTC]

It is a free world where people should be allowed to do what makes them happy, a lot of persons die from depression so to me any activity an individual does that is okay for him shouldn’t be banned by the government, especially if such activities aren’t illegal, the best a government should do is bring in policies that will help check-mate such activity and make it crime free.

Meanwhile government generating money from gambling activities in a state isn’t bad, gambling is actually a huge business currently, some casinos actually liter the street and all, so government demanding taxes from them isn’t bad in anyway, the only thing is that such generated revenue should be used judiciously for creating more jobs and promoting adverts that will explain to the populace about the dangers of excessive gambling, if the government creates lots of jobs it will make a lot of gamblers so busy that they won’t even have time to gamble. I use to have a friend that was a chronic gambler and drunk but few months ago we engaged him with a very tasking job, ever since he started working he rarely have time to gamble.

[Rruchi man]

The state of Illinois just generated $2.7 billion in gambling revenue in fiscal year 2026. At the same time, gamblers lost a lot of money since the city council lifted the ban on video gaming terminals.

Based on the report, video game terminals are now approaching 50k, and it's flooding Chicago. Do you think it's alarming that the state profits from gambling, and they don't impose restrictions on the number of betting stations, thereby growing the number of gamblers and the money they are losing?

The government are just creating a problem that they are aware of for later but at the moment it seems profitable and not yet a problem so the repercussions have been ignored.

At some point, with the high number of active gamblers, the number of problem gamblers, that is gamblers who are unable to control themselves will increase too and become a problem for the state, Perhaps by then they would have profited enough to now consider putting a lid on it.

[Japinat]

Obviously, one gambler’s loss is the operator’s gain. That is the simple gambling math. The house only works if players lose more than they win.

A couple of questions I have.

1. Where is the revenue going?
2. What gambling regulations does Illinois actually have in place?

If the money is going into programs, including responsible gambling awareness, then in my estimation that is a good thing. But if not, they need to fix that. Also, having no limit on the number of terminals is a problem. Going from an expected 20,000 to almost 50,000 shows nobody is controlling the growth, something they must look into regardless of the revenue increase.

On the first question, I read in the Illinois Video Gaming Act that 72.7% of video gaming tax revenue goes to public infrastructure projects. So that revenue is really being used for the development of the state. But I know you might be worried about gambling regulations, they also have those in place, including the well-known Self-Exclusion Program or SEP, and this is a centralized program, so gamblers don't need to register separately at every casino, once they register, they will already be banned from all casinos regulated by the state.

[Frankolala]

Since gambling is legalized in Illinois, I don't see anything wrong with the revenue the government is generating from gambling after all, that's why they made it legal in other to tax the casinos and generate revenue for the country from the gambling industry. Of course, more people will definitely lose more money to gambling since, that's how the system has been designed to favor the house hedge. Whether, the government try their best to reduce the rate of gambling or not, more people will continue to jump into gambling with the mindset of getting rich through it.

[BitBakerr1]

While some government are fighting so hard to stop gambling in there country, other governments are seriously making profit from gambling. I want to ask, the government that is working so hard to stop gambling and the government that is working so hard to make profit from gambling, which of them is doing the right thing?

Concerning your question, I don’t see anything that is alarming in the government making that kind of profit, gamblers should use what they can afford to lose to enjoy gambling, any gambler that is doing more than he is suppose to do is on his own.
I believe the government really don’t care about how the citizens decides to spend their money

[danherbias07]

It is alarming that they do not even think about stopping the growth of those video game terminals that were mentioned. Their government could easily pass a law about it to reduce the number of those items and restrict further additions. Yet, they let profits come in.
It should've been seen in their charts how much money they were receiving, and it could not have grown to that amount if they had done something. The more alarming here is how many people may have gambled in those terminals, which means they can easily be accessed by an individual.

[Findingnemo]

I just want to talk about some reality here, people lost more than ever in official number which doesn't mean they just happened to be losing more money in just one year, gambling is kind of habit that forms over the time. So if the state lifted the ban and numbers growing is just implying that people are now using the regulated places over the unregulated or offshore casinos.

[Fiasem20]

It may not necessarily be alarming that governments are benefiting from gambling taxes meanwhile the public are losing significantly to gambling.As an adult it’s your responsibility to gamble wisely and not put the blame on any third party.What do you expect? shouldn’t they benefit from gambling taxes or other charges? ofcourse they would and it’s because of the huge taxes they benefit from legal gambling site that’s why they aren’t concerned about the darkside of the rise of gambling activities in their state but most state governments have banned gambling activities and have imposed a penalty for any citizen that violates the law.I think this is a personal decision,everyone that’s into gambling should be matured enough to understand how gambling can be addictive when viewed with the wrong perspective.

[fredericktaylor]

The fact that a large amount of money has to be paid to get a license from the government to operate a casino, through which the government gets a huge amount of money from gambling, is not a matter of concern to me. The main point is that it is very important for a gambler to be aware of gambling, if a gambler gambles aggressively without being aware of himself and as a result suffers financial losses, then the gambler himself is responsible for it, not anyone else. The gambler will be saved from the terrible destruction of gambling only when he himself becomes aware of himself, gambles within his ability and can control his greed and gamble.

[I_Anime]

Obviously, one gambler’s loss is the operator’s gain. That is the simple gambling math. The house only works if players lose more than they win.

A couple of questions I have.

1. Where is the revenue going?
2. What gambling regulations does Illinois actually have in place?

If the money is going into programs, including responsible gambling awareness, then in my estimation that is a good thing. But if not, they need to fix that. Also, having no limit on the number of terminals is a problem. Going from an expected 20,000 to almost 50,000 shows nobody is controlling the growth, something they must look into regardless of the revenue increase.

Personally, this is alarming. The government is making such a huge amount of revenue from gambling, while the gambling operators are still making their own profits, considering that the 35% paid as tax is only a portion of their earnings. What do you expect from a government that benefit financially from an industry it’s suppose to regulate . Now it will be tougher for them to impose stricter regulations when they’re making so much money from it , thinking it will reduce the normal revenue they are getting from it now . There’s no way we can sweet talk it , these are folks losses . Just because gambling money funds public projects doesn’t automatically mean gambling expansion is good for the society. Because what are the chances that most of the revenue are coming from those battling with gambling addiction.

[vs2014]

Of course the situation is concerning and the government should take necessary step about people financial safety instead of only making revenge from gambling. I doubt the situation will become more complicated over time cause more betting machines can give people easy access to gambling especially people who struggling with gambling addiction. Moreover gambling not only effort gamblers but also their families have to suffer. I think government should consider this matter seriously, limiting the betting machines and they can use some gambling revenue for people awareness and their welfare

[Bright0515]

Or you want to ask if it is alarming that people are losing money to gambling? I do not see anything wrong or alarming in the governments that are making huge amount of money from gambling. It is people that should be disciplined and gamble responsibly and knowing that the money deposit on gambling sites or used for gambling have high probability to be lost. The government will be happy and not really care about people that are losing.

If op means alarming to the State then I'm also of the opinion that there is absolutely nothing wrong with it as long as they keep gambling moderately but on the other hand it could be alarming to the casinos if a particular state wins more than others, even though it could just be simply about luck they could see it as something related to cheating of some sort even though that's not really the case.

One thing about casinos is that they don't really like it when players winning, that's the reason why if a particular player wins excessively they review the games they play critically.

[qurbanshah02]

I just want to talk about some reality here, people lost more than ever in official number which doesn't mean they just happened to be losing more money in just one year, gambling is kind of habit that forms over the time. So if the state lifted the ban and numbers growing is just implying that people are now using the regulated places over the unregulated or offshore casinos.

Some countries have such rules. If all these are eliminated and legal and illegal things are eliminated, the number of people who gamble will increase significantly. Because some people do not gamble because of their religion, some people do not gamble without a license, and some people do not gamble because of fear. If all this is eliminated and the government actually makes such an announcement, we will see an increase in gambling dens and in which the possibilities of fraud will also increase because if our money is catch while gambling, it will be considered fraud. Although such an announcement will be made according to the country, not the whole world, because whoever has the tendency will make it according to the interest of the people. And those who do not want to use it will stay away from it and will be busy with their work.

[TheUltraElite]

State governments and their politicians are always profiting from the stuff that the state has allowed to run.

It is a known fact that gambling related taxation ends up in the reserves of the government and then funds the politicial campaigns that they want.

I see this from a neutral point of view and from there I see no problem. If someone complains that state is taking advantage of the player's addiction, I would opine that nobody asked the player to play other than their own will.