Full House Resorts’ American Place Casino in Waukegan, Illinois, remains blocked by an ongoing legal challenge. A rival operator continues its lawsuit against the city, claiming that the bidding process had been rigged.

Development of Full House’s American Place Casino has been mired by challenges as the Forest County Potawatomi of Wisconsin continues to block the venue’s construction. The tribe was one of the candidates for a license in 2019 but sued the city after losing the race.

The Potawatomi claim that the process had been rigged and that the tribe didn’t receive a fair shot at the tender. While the lawsuit was originally dismissed, the complaint was revived in 2023, allowing the tribe to have its say.

According to the Potawatomi, the city council underestimated the tribe’s contribution, basing its decision on an outdated and inaccurate third-party report. Additionally, the suit suggests that mayor Sam Cunningham told Waukegan City Council members which bids to approve.

Construction of the permanent American Place property has been on hold ever since, although Full House Resorts did open a temporary venue in February last year.

The Future of American Place in Waukegan Is Still Uncertain

Unfortunately for Full House, the future of its property remains shrouded in uncertainty.

Alex Stolyar, SVP and chief development officer at Full House Resorts, told The Chicago Tribune that the litigation continues to delay the company’s plans. For now, he was unable to say anything for certain but thanked the city and state for their effort to quickly solve this issue.

As long as the litigation is ongoing, there is too much uncertainty around the development. Unfortunately, this litigation has delayed our plans, but we appreciate the effort of the city and state working as quickly as they can to get this restarted.

Alex Stolyar, SVP and chief development officer at Full House Resorts

Since the Illinois Supreme Court is in recess until September, a decision is unlikely to be reached before the end of the year. Should Full House Resorts emerge victorious, the gambling company would likely need at least two or three years to get its permanent casino running.

In any case, proving that the process had been rigged would be an uphill battle for the Potawatomi, considering that the city says the allegations are “factually suspect.”

In the meantime, Illinois continues its efforts to legalize online gambling. State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr. hopes to see iGaming reach Illinois in 2025, saying that there is a lot of momentum for an iGaming measure.

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Last year, Full House Resorts inched closer to turning its American Place casino in Waukegan into reality. Now, the company awaits the Illinois Supreme Court’s final decision.

Previously, the company secured a positive recommendation from the Waukegan Planning and Zoning Commission to the City Council. This doesn’t mean there wasn’t trouble, however, as previously a lawsuit against the City of Waukegan and the Illinois Gaming Board by Forest County Potawatomi Community tried to prevent Full House Resorts from getting a license.

In 2021, the case was dismissed, providing the casino developer with the green light it needed. The company’s triumph, however, was short-lived as last year, the Illinois First District Appellate Court reversed the dismissal, forcing Full House to put its plans on hold once again.

The company is currently involved in a third-party lawsuit and cannot proceed with the beginning of its construction work for as long as the litigation over the license persists. According to attorney Stewart Weiss, the court should reach a decision by the end of 2024.

Full House Resorts Is Optimistic about the Lawsuit’s Result

Full House Resorts’ goal is to create a luxury resort that would attract customers from the Chicago area and bring economic stimulus to Lake County. According to the company and local leaders, the American Place casino would create many new jobs while providing guests with premium experiences.

The final property will boast a 5-star hotel with 20 suites, as well as a casino with some 100 gaming tables and 1,640 slots. Furthermore, American Place Waukegan will have a 1,500-seat entertainment venue. According to officials, the property “is for everybody,” not just for high rollers.

For reference, American Place’s president and CEO, Daniel Lee, expects the permanent property to open in 2027. He firmly believes that the ongoing lawsuit lacks merit and would be eventually dismissed, after which his team would need approximately two years to finalize the casino hotel. Lee is furthermore convinced that his team has the capacity to finance the construction.

Lake County officials and experts are looking forward to the finalization of the venue, arguing that it would be another attraction. Visit Lake County president Maureen Riedy praised the temporary property and expressed his enthusiasm about the permanent one.

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As a part of its efforts to protect Australian players against illegal online gambling, The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) keeps pushing internet service providers (ISPs) to continue blocking illegal offshore gambling companies. Operators found in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 are Wild Blaster and BetUS, two crypto-friendly platforms packed with an abundance of games.

Being an authority dedicated to keeping the local iGaming industry safe and well-organized, ACMA offers tons of handy bits of advice on how to protect from unlicensed gambling operators or file a complaint about an illegal site. Its website also contains the register of licensed wagering services, as well as the up-to-date list of gambling platforms that have already been blocked.

More Operators Bid Farewell to the AU iGaming Market

Found in breach of the Act, Wild Blaster and BetUS Casinos also ended up among the blocked platforms. Players from Australia will no longer be able to access either of these two sites, as they don’t run the business in accordance with the local gambling laws.

Only a month earlier, ACMA ordered ISPs to block five more gambling operators, as all of them were found operating illegally in the market. The casinos in question are Viperspin, Just Casino, Betandplay, Play Fina, and Comic Play Casino.

As a small reminder, the Authority made its first blocking in November 2019. To date, 863 illegal gambling and affiliate sites have been added to the fast-expanding list, making it impossible for those companies to offer their products and services to local clientele.

Having started to enforce new illegal offshore gambling rules in 2017, ACMA has so far requested 218 illegal services to withdraw from the AU market.

Continuous Battle Against Illegal Offshore Casinos

Website blocking is just one of the measures the Authority enforces to protect consumers from gambling on unlicensed platforms.

Most commonly, a gambling site can be blocked if it provides prohibited interactive services (online casinos, online slot games, in-play online sports betting, and similar). In addition to this, ISPs may cease one casino’s operation if it doesn’t hold a local license or in case of targeting Australian players via ads.

In November 2019, the AU government presented the idea for a nationwide self-exclusion register, aiming to minimize the harm caused by irresponsible gambling. As far as the official explained, the process is voluntary, and it allows individuals to halt online gambling activities for at least three months.

Also, in August this year, Australia launched a program called BetStop. The new self-exclusion register also allows consumers to take better control of their gambling habits and learn to make wiser decisions. Within just a single step, players can exclude themselves from all AU-licensed online and mobile wagering sites for a limited period of at least three months or permanently.

Another measure introduced is the idea to ban credit cards for gambling online. This topic has been discussed for a couple of years now but was never passed into law. As soon as it becomes effective, both operators and consumers will have six months to adjust, after which financial penalties will be imposed on those who fail to follow the ban.

Source: “More websites blocked to protect Australians against illegal online gambling”, acma.gov.au, October 25, 2023.

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