Yet at the same time, it had a serious side to it, which most certainly was the revenue stream. Have the old riverboats and the pilots, and we could have a lot of fun with it. Jacobs: In the beginning, it was an incubator idea. IBJ: Obviously you were thinking about a revenue stream that would help your community and other communities in the state. I said, ‘Hell, we can’t give that to Iowa.’ I thought we had to do this in order to be in a competitive situation. Iowa had passed riverboat gaming and we went over there for their inauguration and saw all the excitement it brought. IBJ: How did you get behind the original legislation on this?
I didn’t think I’d be alive for that long. That’s pretty amazing when you think abo ut it. IBJ: It’s been 30 years since all this transpired.
Denny Jacobs, 83, a Democrat from East Moline, for a lookback on the significance of the birth and growth of legal gambling in Illinois. The IBJ caught up with the original sponsor of the legislation, retired former state Sen. Taken together, the enterprises have forever changed the tax structure that the state and host communities now depend upon. Denny JacobsĮDITOR’S NOTE: Thirty years ago, September 1991, Illinois’ first riverboat gambling facility, the Alton Belle Casino, opened in Alton, thus launching a statewide gaming industry that evolved into storefront and social club video terminals, online gaming and sports betting.
