Illinois gaming regulators have moved to make the state’s voluntary self-exclusion system easier to use, approving changes that would add shorter exclusion terms, widen enrollment options and restrict targeted marketing after a person leaves the list. The package is not yet in force. It still has to go through public rulemaking and review by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
The Illinois Gaming Board’s website says the program dates to 2002 and was expanded to sports wagering after the Sports Wagering Act was signed on June 28, 2019. Under the current rules, people must enroll in person at designated sites, and the board’s FAQ says the program is a mandatory minimum of five years before a participant can seek removal.
Before the vote, reporting put the current enrollment network at 32 in-person sites, half of them casinos. The board’s own account described about 41 in-person sites, including the state’s 17 casinos. The approved changes would add six-month, one-year and three-year terms alongside five-year and indefinite options, with automatic re-enrollment for the shorter terms unless a participant opted out.
People seeking the longer five-year or indefinite options would still need an affidavit or letter from a certified gambling addiction counselor or psychiatrist saying they no longer are a problem gambler. The board also authorized staff to explore other sign-up routes, including mailed applications, treatment-provider referrals and an online portal, though those channels were still subject to technical development and review.
A separate voluntary Marketing Exclusion List would block licensees from directing targeted marketing at former self-excluded patrons for 12 months after their exclusion ends. It would not stop those patrons from joining promotions if they wanted to.
The board also passed a resolution saying it intends eventually to fold video gaming into the same system using identity card readers at video gaming locations. Nearly 16,000 people were on the self-exclusion list when the changes were proposed, against a backdrop of a state-commissioned estimate that 383,000 Illinois adults have a gambling problem and 761,000 are at risk. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 22.
