In 2024, popular arcade and video-game franchise Dave and Buster’s made headlines when it announced plans to offer peer-to-peer gambling in small amounts.
Illinois lawmakers are now attempting to shut down that possibility in the Land of Lincoln.
House Bill 2724, presented by Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-District 18), would ban entertainment venues such as arcades from offering gambling services, according to our partner site Legal Sports Report.
The bill passed the Senate Executive Committee last week and was scheduled for a second reading Tuesday.
No “friendly” wagers?
Dave and Buster’s verdict drew the ire of regulators in numerous states, including Illinois.
“We’ve been extremely careful with how we regulate gambling in Illinois, whether that is on sports, table games or video poker,” Cunningham said in a news release. “Arcades marketing as family fun shouldn’t be in the business of exposing minors to gambling.”
The arcade gaming company said that it planned to allow customers to wager up to $5 through its app with the help of gamification software company Lucra.
Rep. Dan Didech (D-District 59) last year responded by proposing the Family Amusement Wagering Prohibition Act. The bill aimed to prevent businesses from promoting or facilitating wagers on games at their locations.
Didech’s proposition only made it past one committee before it died in the legislature.
Dave and Buster’s argued that select machines such as Skee-Ball and Basketball Hot Shot constitute “games of skill,” the criteria needed to meet the definition of legal gambling.
Didech last year said he “rejected” the dichotomy between games of skill and chance, arguing that even basic card games still incorporate elements of skill and luck.
“You can play blackjack, a game everyone agrees is gambling, in a more skillful and less skillful way,” he claimed.
Putting customers first
Dave and Buster’s has six locations in Illinois, including five in the Chicago suburbs.
“Friendly competition really is a big fuel for our economy. ... There’s so many ways that you can compete with friends and family, and I think gamifying that and digitizing all this offline stuff that’s happening is a massive opportunity,” Lucra CEO Dylan Robbins told CNN in an interview last year.
Alongside Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania are also looking into whether the company’s plans constitute legal gambling. Nevada already ruled that Dave & Buster's could not offer gambling on its premises.
As the future of gambling on arcade games is debated, the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) already moved to ban credit card deposits for customers’ sportsbook accounts. Illinois sports betting was legalized in 2020.
The decision, reached in late April, was largely made to support problem gamblers and prevent impulsive, costly decisions.
“Problem gamblers are particularly at risk,” said IGB administrator Marcus D. Fruchter. “And studies have shown an often-problematic willingness for compulsive gamblers to use credit cards to place bets.”
Final approval is still needed from the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, which will open a window for public comment.