Legal Online Sports Betting in Illinois
Illinois online sports betting sites are available to anyone over 21 years of age. If you know someone who is gambling underage, we urge you to reach out to one of the Illinois responsible gambling organizations for potential next steps.
The original bill legalizing sports betting sites in Illinois required users to register in-person at a mobile sportsbook's retail location. However, after Governor J.B. Pritzker signed HB 3136, you no longer need to register in person at an operator's land-based location as of March 5, 2022. You can now make pregame, in-person bets on in-state colleges, which was banned under prior Illinois gambling law.
The Coronavirus pandemic highlighted the practicality of removing the in-person registration requirement. Therefore, since HB3136 took effect in March 2022, you can complete the entire Illinois sportsbook sign-up process online.
In December 2021, Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot signed off on a Chicago City Council approved ordinance that allows land-based sportsbooks to open at stadiums in the city. A retail sportsbook is planned for Wrigley Field, but the Soldier Field ownership group refused all potential partnerships.
While there aren't any online casinos in Illinois, there are several land-based and riverboat casino properties. You can play slots and table games at the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Hollywood Casino in Joliet, and Harrah's Metropolis to name a few.
Fans of horse racing can visit three tracks in the Prairie State. Hawthorne Race Course outside of Chicago is the oldest family-run track in the country, but all of them have sportsbook partners. These operators are some of the best Illinois sports betting sites on the market.
On top of the more traditional forms of gambling, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision banning daily fantasy sports (DFS) in 2020. This was a big win for gamblers and big-name DFS operators, most of which now run Illinois online sportsbooks.
Sports Betting Taxes in Illinois
If there's one certainty in gambling, it's that the state wants its cut of the profits. Potential tax revenue is normally the driving force behind legalized sports betting in the US. As a gambler in the Land of Lincoln, you must pay the state 15% of any gambling winnings over $600 in total that you accrue over the year.
Sportsbooks running inside Chicago city limits must pay an extra two percent tax that was agreed upon by the City Council as part of the ordinance legalizing sports betting in the Windy City.
You should receive an IRS Form W2-G from any Illinois online sportsbooks that pay you out. This has all your total winnings and withholdings from each sportsbook you withdraw from.
With the in-person registration requirement in effect, it's been standard practice for Illinois sports betting sites to automatically withhold 25% of your winnings, provided they have your tax ID number (your Social Security number for US citizens). If they don't have your TIN or SSN, they can withhold as much as 28%.
On the federal side, the IRS taxes gambling winnings at a rate of 24%. The information you must include on your return is outlined on the completed Form W2-Gs you receive from each operator you gambled with throughout the year. Don't file until you've received all your expected W2-Gs.
The good news is losses are deductible at the federal level. You can read everything you need to know about reporting your gambling winnings by seeing IRS Tax Topic No. 419. It's worth pointing out that the IRS suggests keeping a running log of all your wins and losses throughout a calendar year.