I’m not betting on it

November 24th, 2008 at 04:25pm Wally Haas

By the end of the year we’ll find out which community — Rosemont, Des Plaines or Waukegan — will hit the jackpot and be home to the long dormant 10th Illinois gambling license.

If those three communities sound familiar in casino talks, it’s because they are. They were the finalists for a license in 2004, which shows how much they meet the criteria the Illinois Gaming Board has set up or that the deck has been rigged in their favor all along.

The Gaming Board will hear proposals from those communities Tuesday.

The 10th license has been an issue since 1997 when the Silver Eagle casino in East Dubuque shut down. Eleven years, multiple meetings, lawsuits, allegations of mob ties, etc.,  and we finally may have this issue resolved.

Rosemont looks like the leading contender –  again — because it had the highest bid at $435 million, but Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan still has concerns about Rosemont and the mob.

We’ll see how this all plays out.

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