Bill Text: IL SB1400 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Changes the definition of "gambling device" to include any vending or other electronic machine or device, including without limitation a machine or device that awards credits, points, or replays and contains a circuit, meter, or switch capable of removing and recording the removal of credits, points, or replays that offers a person entry into any contest, competition, sweepstakes, scheme, plan, or other selection process that involves or is dependent upon an element of chance for which the person may receive a gift, award, or other item or service of value if that offer is incidental to or results from: (A) the purchase of an item or service of value; or (B) the purchase or gratuitous receipt of a coupon, voucher, certificate, or other similar credit that can be redeemed for or applied towards an item or service of value from such machine or device or elsewhere. Provides that participants in a game of skill or chance where money or other things of value can be won but no payment or purchase is required to participate shall not be convicted of gambling except where participation in such game of skill or chance is accomplished using a gambling device prohibited by these changes to the definition. Further provides that a gambling offense involving such a gambling device is a Class 4 felony. Makes other changes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-05-15 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [SB1400 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-SB1400-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing
Sections 28-1 and 28-2 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/28-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 28-1)
Sec. 28-1. Gambling.
(a) A person commits gambling when he or she:
(1) knowingly plays a game of chance or skill for money
or other thing of value, unless excepted in subsection (b)
of this Section;
(2) knowingly makes a wager upon the result of any
game, contest, or any political nomination, appointment or
election;
(3) knowingly operates, keeps, owns, uses, purchases,
exhibits, rents, sells, bargains for the sale or lease of,
manufactures or distributes any gambling device;
(4) contracts to have or give himself or herself or
another the option to buy or sell, or contracts to buy or
sell, at a future time, any grain or other commodity
whatsoever, or any stock or security of any company, where
it is at the time of making such contract intended by both
parties thereto that the contract to buy or sell, or the

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option, whenever exercised, or the contract resulting
therefrom, shall be settled, not by the receipt or delivery
of such property, but by the payment only of differences in
prices thereof; however, the issuance, purchase, sale,
exercise, endorsement or guarantee, by or through a person
registered with the Secretary of State pursuant to Section
8 of the Illinois Securities Law of 1953, or by or through
a person exempt from such registration under said Section
8, of a put, call, or other option to buy or sell
securities which have been registered with the Secretary of
State or which are exempt from such registration under
Section 3 of the Illinois Securities Law of 1953 is not
gambling within the meaning of this paragraph (4);
(5) knowingly owns or possesses any book, instrument or
apparatus by means of which bets or wagers have been, or
are, recorded or registered, or knowingly possesses any
money which he has received in the course of a bet or
wager;
(6) knowingly sells pools upon the result of any game
or contest of skill or chance, political nomination,
appointment or election;
(7) knowingly sets up or promotes any lottery or sells,
offers to sell or transfers any ticket or share for any
lottery;
(8) knowingly sets up or promotes any policy game or
sells, offers to sell or knowingly possesses or transfers

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any policy ticket, slip, record, document or other similar
device;
(9) knowingly drafts, prints or publishes any lottery
ticket or share, or any policy ticket, slip, record,
document or similar device, except for such activity
related to lotteries, bingo games and raffles authorized by
and conducted in accordance with the laws of Illinois or
any other state or foreign government;
(10) knowingly advertises any lottery or policy game,
except for such activity related to lotteries, bingo games
and raffles authorized by and conducted in accordance with
the laws of Illinois or any other state;
(11) knowingly transmits information as to wagers,
betting odds, or changes in betting odds by telephone,
telegraph, radio, semaphore or similar means; or knowingly
installs or maintains equipment for the transmission or
receipt of such information; except that nothing in this
subdivision (11) prohibits transmission or receipt of such
information for use in news reporting of sporting events or
contests; or
(12) knowingly establishes, maintains, or operates an
Internet site that permits a person to play a game of
chance or skill for money or other thing of value by means
of the Internet or to make a wager upon the result of any
game, contest, political nomination, appointment, or
election by means of the Internet. This item (12) does not

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apply to activities referenced in items (6) and (6.1) of
subsection (b) of this Section.
(b) Participants in any of the following activities shall
not be convicted of gambling:
(1) Agreements to compensate for loss caused by the
happening of chance including without limitation contracts
of indemnity or guaranty and life or health or accident
insurance.
(2) Offers of prizes, award or compensation to the
actual contestants in any bona fide contest for the
determination of skill, speed, strength or endurance or to
the owners of animals or vehicles entered in such contest.
(3) Pari-mutuel betting as authorized by the law of
this State.
(4) Manufacture of gambling devices, including the
acquisition of essential parts therefor and the assembly
thereof, for transportation in interstate or foreign
commerce to any place outside this State when such
transportation is not prohibited by any applicable Federal
law; or the manufacture, distribution, or possession of
video gaming terminals, as defined in the Video Gaming Act,
by manufacturers, distributors, and terminal operators
licensed to do so under the Video Gaming Act.
(5) The game commonly known as "bingo", when conducted
in accordance with the Bingo License and Tax Act.
(6) Lotteries when conducted by the State of Illinois

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in accordance with the Illinois Lottery Law. This exemption
includes any activity conducted by the Department of
Revenue to sell lottery tickets pursuant to the provisions
of the Illinois Lottery Law and its rules.
(6.1) The purchase of lottery tickets through the
Internet for a lottery conducted by the State of Illinois
under the program established in Section 7.12 of the
Illinois Lottery Law.
(7) Possession of an antique slot machine that is
neither used nor intended to be used in the operation or
promotion of any unlawful gambling activity or enterprise.
For the purpose of this subparagraph (b)(7), an antique
slot machine is one manufactured 25 years ago or earlier.
(8) Raffles and poker runs when conducted in accordance
with the Raffles and Poker Runs Act.
(9) Charitable games when conducted in accordance with
the Charitable Games Act.
(10) Pull tabs and jar games when conducted under the
Illinois Pull Tabs and Jar Games Act.
(11) Gambling games conducted on riverboats when
authorized by the Riverboat Gambling Act.
(12) Video gaming terminal games at a licensed
establishment, licensed truck stop establishment, licensed
fraternal establishment, or licensed veterans
establishment when conducted in accordance with the Video
Gaming Act.

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(13) Games of skill or chance where money or other
things of value can be won but no payment or purchase is
required to participate, except where participation in
such game of skill or chance is accomplished using a
gambling device prohibited by Section 28-2(a)(iii).
(c) Sentence.
(1) Gambling is a Class A misdemeanor. A second or
subsequent conviction under subsections (a)(3) through
(a)(12), is a Class 4 felony.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (c)(1), or anything
else contained in this Section to the contrary, a gambling
offense involving a device described in Section
28-2(a)(iii) is a Class 4 felony.
(d) Circumstantial evidence.
In prosecutions under this Section circumstantial evidence
shall have the same validity and weight as in any criminal
prosecution.
(Source: P.A. 97-1108, eff. 1-1-13; 98-644, eff. 6-10-14.)
(720 ILCS 5/28-2) (from Ch. 38, par. 28-2)
Sec. 28-2. Definitions.
(a) A "gambling device" is: (i) any clock, tape machine,
slot machine or other machines or device for the reception of
money or other thing of value on chance or skill or upon the
action of which money or other thing of value is staked,
hazarded, bet, won or lost; (ii) or any mechanism, furniture,

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fixture, equipment or other device designed primarily for use
in a gambling place; or (iii) any vending or other electronic
machine or device, including without limitation a machine or
device that awards credits, points, or replays and contains a
circuit, meter, or switch capable of removing and recording the
removal of credits, points, or replays that offers a person
entry into any contest, competition, sweepstakes, scheme,
plan, or other selection process that involves or is dependent
upon an element of chance for which the person may receive a
gift, award, or other item or service of value if that offer is
incidental to or results from: (A) the purchase of an item or
service of value; or (B) the purchase or gratuitous receipt of
a coupon, voucher, certificate, or other similar credit that
can be redeemed for or applied towards an item or service of
value from such machine or device or elsewhere. A "gambling
device" does not include:
(1) A coin-in-the-slot operated mechanical device
played for amusement which rewards the player with the
right to replay such mechanical device, which device is so
constructed or devised as to make such result of the
operation thereof depend in part upon the skill of the
player and which returns to the player thereof no money,
property or right to receive money or property.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection
(a), a vending machine Vending machines by which full and
adequate return is made for the money invested and in which

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there is no element of chance or hazard.
(3) A crane game. For the purposes of this paragraph
(3), a "crane game" is an amusement device involving skill,
if it rewards the player exclusively with merchandise
contained within the amusement device proper and limited to
toys, novelties and prizes other than currency, each having
a wholesale value which is not more than $25.
(4) A redemption machine. For the purposes of this
paragraph (4), a "redemption machine" is a single-player or
multi-player amusement device involving a game, the object
of which is throwing, rolling, bowling, shooting, placing,
or propelling a ball or other object that is either
physical or computer generated on a display or with lights
into, upon, or against a hole or other target that is
either physical or computer generated on a display or with
lights, or stopping, by physical, mechanical, or
electronic means, a moving object that is either physical
or computer generated on a display or with lights into,
upon, or against a hole or other target that is either
physical or computer generated on a display or with lights,
provided that all of the following conditions are met:
(A) The outcome of the game is predominantly
determined by the skill of the player.
(B) The award of the prize is based solely upon the
player's achieving the object of the game or otherwise
upon the player's score.

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(C) Only merchandise prizes are awarded.
(D) The wholesale value of prizes awarded in lieu
of tickets or tokens for single play of the device does
not exceed $25.
(E) The redemption value of tickets, tokens, and
other representations of value, which may be
accumulated by players to redeem prizes of greater
value, for a single play of the device does not exceed
$25.
(5) Video gaming terminals at a licensed
establishment, licensed truck stop establishment, licensed
fraternal establishment, or licensed veterans
establishment licensed in accordance with the Video Gaming
Act.
(a-5) "Internet" means an interactive computer service or
system or an information service, system, or access software
provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple
users to a computer server, and includes, but is not limited
to, an information service, system, or access software provider
that provides access to a network system commonly known as the
Internet, or any comparable system or service and also
includes, but is not limited to, a World Wide Web page,
newsgroup, message board, mailing list, or chat area on any
interactive computer service or system or other online service.
(a-6) "Access" and "computer" have the meanings ascribed to
them in Section 16D-2 of this Code.

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(b) A "lottery" is any scheme or procedure whereby one or
more prizes are distributed by chance among persons who have
paid or promised consideration for a chance to win such prizes,
whether such scheme or procedure is called a lottery, raffle,
gift, sale or some other name.
(c) A "policy game" is any scheme or procedure whereby a
person promises or guarantees by any instrument, bill,
certificate, writing, token or other device that any particular
number, character, ticket or certificate shall in the event of
any contingency in the nature of a lottery entitle the
purchaser or holder to receive money, property or evidence of
debt.
(d) It is the intent of Section 28-2(a)(iii) to prohibit
any mechanism that seeks to avoid being considered a gambling
device through the use of any subterfuge or pretense
whatsoever.
(Source: P.A. 97-1126, eff. 1-1-13; 98-31, eff. 6-24-13.)