Residents of Illinois will soon find themselves being able to bet on their favorite sports teams starting Monday, March 16, 2020, via BetRivers. The sportsbook will be accepting sports bets starting 12 pm Central Time for the first time in the state. This sportsbook, which is operated by Rust Street Gaming, will be able to accept wagers in the coming week and this will be ushered in by an opening ceremony at Rivers Casino at 10 am on the same day.
Rivers Casino, which is co-owned by Rush Street Gaming, is one of the casinos approved by the state to accept sports betting. This was done by the Illinois Gaming Board and BetRivers is the first land-based sportsbook to be able to do this in the state. To recall, sportsbetting was legalized in the state in June of 2019 and is the 15th state in the country to do so.
Co-founder of Rush Street Gaming, Greg Carlin, has high hopes for this venture. He has stated that the company will do their best to offer bettors a superlative experience and to ensure that customers will enjoy the new offering found within their casino.
Other casinos that were also given the go signal to offer sports betting as well in the state, albeit temporarily, are Hollywood Casino in Joliet as well as Aurora, and Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin. Argosy Casino Alton was also given the same temporary operating permits the other two have for sports betting.
The granting of permits were timed perfectly to coincide with the opening of the NCAA men’s bball tournament. Also known as March Madness, you can expect that sports bettors in the state will be happy with such a development. BetRivers will also launch both mobile and online versions of their sportsbook later in the year.
