[Jimmy The Fish]

[ QUOTE ]
Now will these be like the other casinos in which no poker except for weekdays and crazy hours.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem in Illinois is that the current law limits the number of "gaming positions" that a casino can have. The law doesn't differentiate between a slot machine, a table-game seat, or a seat in a poker room. So most casinos choose to install 10 slot machines instead of one poker table. They'll shut down some slots and allow poker during periods when the slot traffic is light, but they view the slots as being more profitable on weekends.

The proposal currently working its way through the legislature includes an increase in the number of positions each casino can have. (I've heard the increase described as "dramatic", but don't know how large it really is.) Hopefully, some casinos will choose to allocate a chunk of those new positions to poker rooms; but most will probably go the lazy route and just add more slots.

At one point, there was a proposal, backed by the horse industry, that wanted to expand gaming by allowing slots and poker at Illinois horse tracks (similar to Iowa's racinos). Unfortunately, that's fallen by the wayside for now.