Just How Many Gaming Machines Are There in Adams County?
Years ago the City of Quincy had a chance to secure a license for a gambling boat on Quincy's Riverfront. The choice of accepting the opportunity was placed in the hands of the Quincy City Council. The vote was evenly split by the council members and then Mayor Charles Scholz cast the decisive vote against pursuing the opportunity. The debate on how that vote was good or bad continues today. The main argument against it was that people didn't want gambling in their community. Oh, how times have changed.
In 2012 the Quincy City Council approved video gaming machines with a limit of 2 per business. In 2017 that limit was extended to 3 and in some cases 5 machines. A recent article by Matt Hopf of the Herald Whig indicated just how different things are today.
So just how many video games are set up in Quincy and Adams County? In Hopf's December 2018 article he indicated that, as of November of last year, 191 video gaming machines were in operation in 62 locations in Quincy. In unincorporated Adams County some 42 other machines were in operation in 12 businesses.
The money made from these machines is split four ways with the 35% of the earnings going to the machine owner/installer, 35% to the businesses that house the machines, and 30% goes to the State of Illinois. Of the state's 30 earnings, 5% of the winnings goes to the municipalities and counties.
These machines seem to be making significant profits and as long as that holds true expect to see more and more machines popping up in the future.