Here is the dated record of Chicago's video gaming rollout, step by step, with a source for each so you can check it yourself.
How the ban came off
The City Council lifted Chicago's prohibition on video gaming terminals as part of the 2026 budget. On Friday, December 19, 2025, the Council approved the revenue package 29-19, and on Saturday, December 20, it passed the appropriations ordinance 30-18, over Mayor Brandon Johnson's objections (FOX 32, Dec. 20, 2025). The budget took effect on January 1, 2026 (WTTW, Dec. 31, 2025), and the video gaming ordinance became law without the mayor's signature (Civic Federation, Aug. 20, 2026).
The Illinois Gaming Board would not treat Chicago as a video gaming municipality until the City formally told it the ban was gone. By early February that notice had not been sent, so on February 11 Ald. Anthony Beale and more than a dozen colleagues mailed the Board a certified copy of the ordinance themselves (Chicago Sun-Times, Feb. 10, 2026). City Clerk Anna Valencia sent the City's formal notice on February 24, and on the afternoon of February 26 the Board opened applications to Chicago locations (Chicago Tribune, Feb. 26, 2026). Close to 200 Chicago businesses had filed within two weeks (The Daily Line, Mar. 9, 2026).
The first state approvals, and the pushback
At its June 11, 2026 meeting the Board approved 51 establishment licenses statewide (IGB minutes, June 11, 2026). News outlets reading the Board's records counted six of them in Chicago: taverns in Mount Greenwood and Beverly, a Loop bar and a Lakeview restaurant (WTTW, June 12, 2026; Chicago Sun-Times, June 19, 2026). The minutes record the Administrator noting that Chicago locations "cannot go live with video gaming operations even after being licensed by the IGB" until they hold the required City of Chicago licenses, and that terminal operators should not request a go-live appointment before then (IGB minutes, June 11, 2026).
Counts of pending Chicago applications that month differed by outlet: the Sun-Times mapped at least 279 on June 19; WTTW reported 285 on June 12.
On June 11, Mayor Johnson asked the Council to reimpose the ban (WTTW, June 12, 2026). His ordinance went to the Committee on Workforce Development, which held a June 24 hearing without calling a vote. That hearing adjourned early on Ald. Beale's motion, and the chair, Ald. Michael Rodriguez, said there were no plans to call a vote on the ordinance out of his committee (Block Club Chicago, June 25, 2026). As of November 5, 2026, Chicago Councilmatic's record of that ordinance showed no action since its June 15 introduction (Chicago Councilmatic, O2026-0026123).
Fall 2026: more state approvals, the first City applications
The Board approved 29 more establishment licenses statewide at its September 3 meeting, and its Administrator separately granted 77 under authority the Board delegated to him in August (IGB minutes, Sept. 3, 2026), so counts built from Board votes alone run lower than WTTW's. On September 9, WTTW reported that the state had approved 63 Chicago locations, that 23 bars and restaurants had applied for City licenses, and that the mayor's administration had set up a police review of proposed locations, with 13 ready for it (WTTW, Sept. 9, 2026). On October 5, a City Hall spokesman told the Sun-Times that no machine had gone live within the city (Chicago Sun-Times, Oct. 5, 2026).
As of October 5, 2026, the status box on this site's home, hub, area and news pages reads: "Video gaming is legal in Chicago as of January 1, 2026. No machines are live in the city yet." That box is the only place this site states where things stand.
What this means for a Chicago bar owner
Two licenses, not one. A Chicago location needs an Illinois Gaming Board establishment license and a City of Chicago Video Gaming Location License, issued by the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection under Chapter 4-155 of the Municipal Code. The City requires the state license first, plus a Tavern or Consumption on Premises – Incidental Activity liquor license, a floor plan, the use agreement with your terminal operator, and proof of lease or ownership (City of Chicago, BACP). The Board's Administrator said in June that terminal operators should not request a go-live appointment for a Chicago location until the City licenses are in place.
The paperwork and the room can be worked on whatever the timing; the documents the City lists are the same on any calendar.
Nobody can promise you a date; anyone who does is guessing.
To understand both applications before you decide anything, Prairie State Gaming's licensing team explains the application process and coordinates the information and steps needed to move forward. Start on the contact page.