Rivers Casino is a
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
in
Des Plaines
Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situated on and is named after the ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, United States, a northern suburb of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
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, subdivision_name ...
. It is minutes away from
O'Hare International Airport. Rivers Casino opened on July 18, 2011. It is majority-owned by
Churchill Downs Inc., and managed by its minority owner,
Rush Street Gaming
Rush(es) may refer to:
Places
United States
* Rush, Colorado
* Rush, Kentucky
* Rush, New York
* Rush City, Minnesota
* Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois
* Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream
* Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...
.
The building sits above a few inches of water in a shallow pit. This was created for the casino to comply with state law, intended to legalize
riverboat gambling.
[Chicago Tribune: "Des Plaines casino goes Vegas to corner upscale Chicago market" by Jennifer Delgado and Robert McCoppin]
July 15, 2011
History
In 2008, the Illinois
Gaming Board awarded the state's 10th and last casino license to Midwest Gaming and Entertainment LLC, a group led by
Neil Bluhm
Neil Gary Bluhm (born 1938) is an American billionaire real estate and casino magnate. He is a partner of Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, which owns several casinos. He had an estimated net worth of US$7 billion in October 2021.
Early life
Bluhm ...
,
to build a casino on approximately adjacent to the
Tri-State Tollway The Tri-State Tollway is a toll highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It follows:
*Interstate 80 from I-94/I-294/IL 394 in South Holland to I-294 in Hazel Crest;
*Interstate 294 from I-80/I-94/IL 394 in South Holl ...
at the northwest corner of Devon Avenue and Des Plaines River Road. Des Plaines was awarded the gaming license in 2008. The city approved zoning in early 2010. The casino opened in July 2011 as Rivers Casino.
In 2019, Churchill Downs Inc., which owned the nearby
Arlington Park
Arlington International Racecourse (formerly Arlington Park, the name was Arlington Park Jockey Club from as soon as 1948 up to 1955) was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago reg ...
racetrack, purchased a 62 percent stake in the casino from Bluhm and his partners for $407 million.
References
External links
Official website
Des Plaines, Illinois
Casinos completed in 2011
Casinos in Illinois
Churchill Downs Incorporated
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