I’m at the Hard Rock casino in Rockford, Illinois, and the workers tell me that Illinois isn’t complying with the new $2,000 hand-pay rule. Has Gov. Pritzker taken us out of the Union?
Leaving J.B. Pritzker, a known gambler, aside, this question seems to be a thorny one. Nobody wanted to touch it. Not Hard Rock Rockford, which wouldn’t talk. Not Hard Rock International, which didn’t respond to us. Not Illinois gambling regulators, who were downright smug and evasive. Not even normally chatty Boyd Gaming, which owns the Par-A-Dice casino in Peoria, Illinois.
So we can only wonder if Illinois intends to keep the jackpot-reporting threshold at $1,200 for state-tax purposes, i.e., continued revenue generation. It certainly sounds like it from what you heard at the Hard Rock -- and from the smugness of the regulators questioned about this.
And from what one unconfirmed source told us: "Illinois hasn't aligned with the federal increase for its own purposes. The state continues to treat gambling winnings (including slots) as taxable income at its flat 4.95% rate and maintains a lower threshold tied to the prior federal rules."
To us, this would mean that Illinois casinos are not issuing or would not issue federal W-2Gs for jackpots between $1,200 and $2,000, but is issuing/would issue the state IL-5754 (Statement by Person Receiving Gambling Winnings) in applicable cases. They would, of course, issue W-2Gs for jackpots of $2,000 or higher.
The only other scenario we can imagine is simply the slow implementation of the new rules, which weren’t well publicized when they went into effect on New Year’s Day. Even here in Gambling Central, a.k.a. Las Vegas, casinos have been slow to react. Bob Dancer told us he couldn’t find a compliant machine until January 17.
If anyone in the Land of Lincoln has hit a jackpot between $1,200 and $2,000, we'd like to hear from you about how that process unfolded.
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Donzack
Feb-10-2026
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