Illinois Bill Targets Dave & Buster’s App Betting Boom
Illinois House Bill 2724 is moving to block Dave & Buster’s from letting customers bet real money on arcade games through its app.
A Crackdown on Arcade Wagers
Illinois lawmakers are throwing a wrench into Dave & Buster’s plan to turn Skee-Ball into a betting bonanza. House Bill 2724, which sailed through the Senate Executive Committee on April 30, 2025, bans the chain’s customers from wagering real money on its app and stops other companies from rolling out similar games.
Senator Bill Cunningham, a key backer, called the practice “unregulated gambling,” saying, “Arcades marketed as family fun shouldn’t be in the business of exposing minors to gambling.” He stressed Illinois’s tight grip on regulating sports betting, table games, and video poker.
Dave & Buster’s, with five locations in Chicago’s suburbs, kicked off the app feature in 2024, letting players compete for cash on games like Hot Shots basketball and Skee-Ball via a partnership with Lucra.
Lucra’s CEO, Dylan Robbins, pitched it as “friendly competition” and a “massive opportunity” to gamify offline fun. But lawmakers aren’t buying the “game of skill” label, with Representative Dan Didech, who pushed a similar ban last year, arguing that every game blends skill and chance, like blackjack, which is still gambling.
Why Illinois Is Worked Up
The bill’s a response to Dave & Buster’s app letting 18-year-olds bet, despite Illinois’s 21-and-up gambling rule. Didech flagged Lucra’s weak age checks, saying he signed up without ID verification and was offered NBA player bets, not just arcade games.
“None of those protections are in place at Dave & Buster’s locations,” he told CNBC, warning of risks to problem gamblers and kids. HB 2724 aims to keep family-friendly spots from becoming mini-casinos, especially with Illinois’s 380,000 adults already grappling with gambling issues.
Other states are raising eyebrows too. Ohio’s gaming board said the plan “appears to violate Ohio law,” while Pennsylvania’s digging into it, and Nevada flat-out rejected Dave & Buster’s betting pitch. But Illinois is leading the charge with actual legislation, building on Didech’s earlier Family Amusement Wagering Prohibition Act, which fizzled out in 2024.
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