Is crypto sports betting legal in Illinois?

What's legal

Illinois started retail sports betting on March 9, 2020 and online betting on June 18, 2020. The Illinois Gaming Board's list of authorized operators shows 10 online sportsbooks: bet365, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars, Circa Sports, DraftKings, theScore Bet, Fanatics, FanDuel and Hard Rock Bet. The same list names 12 retail sportsbooks at casinos and racetracks.

You must be 21 and physically in Illinois. Operators pay a graduated state tax of 20% to 40% on online revenue. Since July 2025 they also pay a per-bet fee of $0.25 on the first 20 million wagers each fiscal year and $0.50 on each wager after that.

How betting works here

Under the Sports Wagering Act, the Board can license casinos, racetracks and up to seven sports facilities with more than 17,000 seats. Each can run wagering windows or kiosks inside the facility or within five blocks of it, and racetracks can add up to three off-track locations. Each online brand sits on one of these licenses: FanDuel under Fairmount Park, DraftKings under Casino Queen, bet365 under Walker's Bluff.

Retail sportsbooks include Rivers Des Plaines, Grand Victoria in Elgin, Hollywood Aurora and Joliet, Argosy Alton, Hard Rock Rockford, Wind Creek Chicago Southland and Hawthorne Race Course.

Section 25(d) of the Act says a licensee "may not accept a wager for a sports event involving an Illinois collegiate team." Operators must publish house rules on voided wagers. The Board lists no approved deposit methods, so check the operator's payments page. Licensed US books generally do not take crypto.

Crypto and offshore sites

The Gaming Board's list names the only operators authorized to take sports bets in Illinois. A crypto sportsbook that is not on it holds no Illinois license, and you would have no state regulator to complain to if a withdrawal stalled.

The Board publishes its enforcement letters, which cite the Sports Wagering Act and the Criminal Code's gambling section. On February 3, 2025 it wrote to Bovada. On February 11, 2025 it wrote to BetOnline, BetUS, Bookmaker, Heritage Sports, BetAnySports and others, including the fantasy-style sites Drafters, ParlayPlay and Chalboard. On April 1, 2025 it sent letters to Kalshi, Crypto.com and Robinhood, and on January 27, 2026 to Polymarket.

Before you deposit anywhere, look the operator up on the Board's authorized-operator page.

Fantasy, racing and prediction markets

Illinois regulated paid daily fantasy sports for the first time in 2026. Public Act 104-0468, signed June 16, 2026 as part of the state budget, adds sections 25-120.1 to 25-120.8 to the Sports Wagering Act. Contests must be online and between two or more participants, so single-player contests against the operator are out. Participants must be 21 and in Illinois. Operators need a Gaming Board license, pay a 15% privilege tax on adjusted gross fantasy receipts from July 1, 2026, and commit a Class 4 felony if they knowingly offer contests without one. Operators already active may continue for 90 days after the Board's rules take effect if they apply for a license.

Online horse-race wagering is licensed by the Illinois Racing Board. Its 2025 list names Club Hawthorne, NYRA Bets, TVG and FanDuel Racing, and TwinSpires and BetAmerica.

The Board's letters to Kalshi, Crypto.com, Robinhood and Polymarket say each was offering unlicensed sports wagering. The same Public Act defines an "exchange wager" as a contract on a prediction market or exchange tied to a sporting event and taxes each one a licensee offers at 1.75%, rising to 3.5% after five million in a fiscal year. Federal courts in Chicago have three related cases: Coinbase v. Raoul (filed December 18, 2025), United States v. Illinois (April 2, 2026) and KalshiEX v. Raoul (June 23, 2026). MLex reported on October 5, 2026 that a judge temporarily blocked Illinois from enforcing its license requirement against Kalshi and Coinbase. The cases are unresolved.

What's changing

House Bill 5143, filed in February 2026, would have ended the per-bet fee after July 1, 2026. The House sent it back to the Rules Committee on March 27, 2026 and it did not move again, so the fee stays in the statute.

Chicago's 2026 budget added a 10.25% tax on sports betting revenue from bets placed in the city, and the Sports Betting Alliance sued the city in Cook County over it.

The Gaming Board must still write the fantasy rules, and it can adopt them as emergency rules. The federal Kalshi cases in Chicago will decide whether Illinois can license prediction-market sports contracts.

Tax on winnings

Illinois charges a flat 4.95% income tax, and gambling winnings you report on your federal return are part of the income it taxes. Illinois does not allow a deduction for gambling losses, so a bettor who wins $5,000 and loses $4,000 owes state tax on the full $5,000.

Nonresidents are taxed too. For tax years ending on or after December 31, 2019, the Department of Revenue says you pay Illinois income tax on Illinois gambling winnings, sports wagering included, whatever your residency. Illinois withholds on winnings when federal withholding applies, generally payouts above $5,000 from a single wager that pay at least 300 times the stake, and another state does not withhold. Federal tax applies on top: see [state tax on winnings](/tax/state-tax-on-winnings/).

If something goes wrong

Start with the operator's house rules on voided or disputed wagers, then use the Gaming Board's online inquiry and submission form. The Board can act only against its own licensees, so none of this helps with an offshore site.

The Board's Self-Exclusion Program covers all Illinois casinos and sports wagering. You enroll in person, with a driver's license or state ID, at a Board office inside any casino or at a listed treatment site. It takes 30 to 45 minutes and is free. The program director's number is (312) 814-8832. For help, call 1-800-GAMBLER, the number the Board lists.

Common questions