Where to Legally Gamble (or Not Gamble?) in Evanston

Hate the game not the player? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is my final post for the year - I hope all of you have a Happy Holiday and New Year. If you’re a paid subscriber, I especially thank you for your kindness over the last year. Everything I publish will remain free of charge and all donations remain optional and go towards a summer intern, paperwork, lawyers, Nespresso pods, Google hosting, and $2 in slot sweepstakes machines.

I only grow via word of mouth, so please feel free to like and share!

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If you have family in town this holiday season and need to kill some time out of the house, I’ve got some good news for you! A few weeks ago, alert reader Steve Hart informed me of a developing situation - despite the City’s ban on gambling, video game-like machines have started popping up all over town.

Here’s where you can find some:

• 555 Pantry: 510 Main Street (next to Brothers K Coffeeshop)

• Davis Pantry: 927 Davis Street (next to Vintage Vinyl)

• Citgo: 443 Asbury (across from the old Little Beans and Chute Middle School)

• Shell Station: 2494 Oakton (by the Quad Dome)

Here’s a picture of a few of the units in the Citgo Station on Asbury.

These units are at the Citgo station on Asbury

And here’s what the units at Davis Pantry look like:

The units in the other locations are similar, most of them made by the manufacturer POMI with an IL Department of Revenue decal on the side.

The City Council voted against legalized gambling, back in May, so I was surprised to see the machines. Back in April when the Council was discussing it, someone brought this up in the Roundtable comment section:

I reached out to the Evanston Police, who commented that they’ve already ticketed these businesses and lost in an administrative hearing!

The City of Evanston and the Evanston Police Department are aware of businesses operating “sweepstakes” machines within the city, which, upon first glance, appear to function as gambling devices.

In April 2024, the Evanston Police Department took enforcement action against two businesses operating these machines. Both were cited under city ordinance 9-5-8-9, Gambling Devices. However, during administrative hearings, the citations were dismissed after the businesses presented their defenses.

The City of Evanston and the Evanston Police Department are continuing to review the legality of these sweepstake machines. This includes consulting with the Illinois Gaming Board for further clarity.

I’ve FOIA’ed copies of documents related to the hearing but probably won’t hear back until after the new year.

I also reached out to the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB), and sent them photos of some of the units at a few locations. An unnamed source replied;

I can confirm that is not an IGB regulated machine and is what the IGB considers an illegal gambling device.

So the IGB views this as an illegal device and apparently so does the City, who gave a ticket, went to a hearing, and lost. So what’s the catch?

What are Sweepstakes Games?

I went to 555 Pantry and played the machine myself. You put cash into the machine and it displays the message below:

Sorry for the crappy quality!

The message says;

For each $1 purchase, you will receive an equal amount in gift certificate value for use on products sold at www.pomi-il.com.

You will also receive 100 free entries for every $1 purchase.

Maximum $500 value for each gift certificate.

Once you accept the gift certificate modal, the game is basically slots - similar to what you would find at a casino. At the end, you have an option to print off a ticket that has a gift certificate number on it, which you can use at their website, www.pomi-il.com.

So, technically, with $1 in, you’re purchasing a $1 gift certificate for the website along with 100 free entries on the machine. For the game I was playing this was about 10 spins. You can read the website for the machine vendor, claiming the same thing — that these machines take cash in and you can redeem an equal amount in their online shop or receive cash.

Our Electronic Product Promotion Kiosk Sweepstake games provide a fun experience for your customers with a chance to win cash. After inserting an allocated dollar amount, the customer will receive a certificate where they can visit our website and shop available products. In addition to the online shop, the customer will also receive entries to play games for a monetary reward.

I didn’t win when I played the machine, so I can’t confirm how the payouts work when you win. However, the distributors of these machines clearly promote them as cash-in and cash-out. For instance, the machines at Davis Pantry are labeled as owned by Chi-Town productions, who posted to their facebook in 2021:

So, it seems like you can win cash, but what’s the deal with the gift certificates for the website?

The $41.95 Toilet Stool Loophole

You can view the redemption website, where you can use the gift certificate to purchase things such as a $41.95 bamboo pooping stool:

So it seems like that’s the catch - you put cash into the machine, get a gift certificate for their website, and then can play slots, where you are eligible to win cash. You can, in theory at least, redeem the gift certificate for a poop stool or a $199.95 saucepan.

It’s a saucepan

The POMI website makes a slightly different claim, arguing that these are games of chance where you can enter without purchase.

This Pomi Electronic Product Promotion Kiosk is expressly authorized under the Illinois Criminal Code: (720 ILCS 5/28-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 28-1)

Sec. 28-1. Gambling.

(b) Participants in any of the following activities shall not be convicted of gambling: (13) Games of skill or chance where money or other things of value can be won but no payment or purchase is required to participate.

On the Pomi Kiosk, you will find directions to participate for FREE. No payment or purchase is required to participate. As a result this Pomi Kiosk is exempt under the criminal code.

When I played the machine, I couldn’t find any way to play for free. The game itself was a slot machine - it wasn’t a “game of skill” like say, video poker. I didn’t play all the games on the machine, however. So perhaps there was something nested deeper that I couldn’t find.

POMI goes on to explain that the machines are not subject to the authority of the IL Video Gaming Act because that law only applies to gambling and as we just read, this is not gambling.

The Pomi Electronic Product Promotion Kiosk is expressly exempt under the Illinois Gaming Board's Video Gaming Act:

(230 ILCS 40/) Video Gaming Act.

Sec 35. Display of license; confiscation; violation as felony.

Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit the use of a game device only if the game device is used in an activity that is not gambling under subsection (b) of Section 28-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012

So … it’s not video gaming because it’s not gambling. And it’s not gambling because 1) you’re buying a gift certificate with the play and/or 2) there is a free game-of-skill way to win a gift certificate. And it’s not subject to City Ordinances because of all the above.

It’s a clever argument, at least!

Gaming is Big Money in Illinois

Legalized gaming in Illinois is a huge business. My previous story on this subject included a slide deck presented to the City with some crazy information on the size of this business:

• In 2022, there were 43,128 video gaming terminals at 7,967 locations in Illinois. Of the ten or so states who have authorized video gaming, Illinois is the largest by far.

• In Illinois, the tax on gaming is 34.0%, of which 29% goes to the state of 5% goes to the local municipality. The terminal operators and establishments split the remaining.

• Annually, it is around a $2.5 to $3 billion dollar industry in Illinois and the state realized around $762 million in tax revenues 2022 from machines.

• Most municipalities in Cook County do not permit video gaming.

I FOIA’ed copies of the IL Department of Revenue decals on the “sweepstakes” machines for two locations. The stickers are for a “Coin Operated Amusement Device” decal.

You can view them;

• 555 Pantry - Machine owned by Ravency, Inc who owns 45 machines.

• Davis Pantry - Machine owned by Chitown Productions LLC who owns at least 99 machines according to this registration.

The applications include an interesting note from the IDOR:

2. The Video Gaming Act provides that certain simulated gaming devices are subject to seizure, confiscation, and destruction under the act, even if the devices are operated for amusement only and bear a current Coin-Operated Amusement Device decal.

For these two vendors, none of the registrations lists an Evanston location. Since these are, in theory, not governed by the Illinois Gaming Board - neither the State nor the City realizes the 29% + 5% gaming tax revenues. In addition, these machines do not have to comply with other state regulations on gaming, such as the self-exclusion lists or independent lab verification.

It’s also big money for local businesses - of the $2.5 billion in gaming revenue, more than $1.5 billion was split between local businesses and the machine operators. When at one of the locations, I briefly spoke with the staffer who was optimistic about the machines for his business. At least for now, there doesn’t seem to be any reason for him to be skeptical.