<p>Beverly, Lake View, Mount Greenwood and Printers Row are at the front of the line for the city’s first state-sanctioned slot machines outside of Bally’s Chicago Casino.</p><p>Six bars and restaurants in those neighborhoods have gotten the green light from Illinois regulators to install video gambling machines, but they still need city officials to sign off before letting residents take a spin.</p><p>Mayor Brandon Johnson is making a late push <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2026/06/11/mayor-brandon-johnson-repeal-video-gambling-bid-chicago" target="_blank" ><u>to block the machines from operation</u></a>, which his finance team has warned could undercut business at the permanent Bally’s gambling mecca that is finally slated to open next year in the city's River West neighborhood.</p><p>But after more than a decade of keeping the machines out of the city while they’ve exploded across the suburbs, a recalcitrant City Council that authorized video gambling over Johnson’s objection last fall could still ensure that Bally’s isn’t the only game in town.</p><p>At least 279 bars, restaurants, gas stations and a veterans’ hall in Chicago want a piece of the action, with state applications pending to install slots.&nbsp;</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="HtmlModule"><a class="AnchorLink" id="html-embed-module-f40000" name="html-embed-module-f40000"></a><div class="flourish-embed flourish-map" data-src="visualisation/29426870"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script><noscript><img src="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/29426870/thumbnail" width="100%" alt="map visualization" /></noscript></div> </div> </div><p>And that’s only a tenth of the establishments that could end up lighting up slots if the city indeed goes all in on video gambling. About 3,300 are eligible to apply, an estimated 80% of which are expected to seek slots — which could eventually mean more than 2,600 places with machines sucking up gamblers’ cash.&nbsp;</p><p>The first batch of hopeful houses of chance span the city, but are mostly clustered on the North Side, where 146 businesses want to add gambling to the menu, including the Cubby Bear, Parrots Bar &amp; Grill and both Emporium locations.&nbsp;</p><p>Reggie’s Bar &amp; Grill and the Cove Lounge are among 91 South Side businesses with applications pending, along with another 37 closer to downtown, including Miller’s Pub.&nbsp;</p><p>Just five West Side businesses had put in applications, which can take months to be processed by the state.&nbsp;</p><p>Already gaming board-approved on the Far South Side are Cork and Kerry, Lawlor’s Bar, Hippo’s and Bar 106.&nbsp;</p><p>North Side brunch spot Eggsperience has gotten the green light as well, along with the South Loop’s Half Sour.&nbsp;</p><p>They would join the 8,933 locations across Illinois with more than 49,000 slots that comprise “the largest regulated video gaming network of its kind in the world,” according to the Illinois Gaming Board. That’s the perennially understaffed state agency tasked with vetting, licensing and policing a sprawling gambling landscape that also includes 17 casinos and one of the largest sports betting markets in America.</p><p>Slots have grown ubiquitous across more than 1,100 Illinois municipalities that have embraced them as tax revenue generators since the state industry went live in 2012.