How do you open a video gaming café in Illinois?
- Check that your municipality allows video gaming and gaming cafés.
- Set up your business and get a liquor license for on-site consumption.
- Choose a licensed Terminal Operator to partner with.
- Apply for your video gaming location license with the Illinois Gaming Board, including background checks for all owners.
- Prepare your space and install up to six video gaming terminals (VGTs).
What Is an Illinois Gaming Café?
An Illinois gaming café, or gaming parlor, is an establishment that caters primarily to video gaming. The main revenue stream of a gaming café is driven by slot machine play – formally known as video gaming terminals (or VGTs). In accordance with the Illinois Video Gaming Act, gaming cafes also require a liquor pouring license and most also offer food or snacks for purchase to their patrons.
Turning your establishment into a video gaming café can produce considerable additional revenue. In fiscal year 2025, Illinois video gaming produced $3.09 billion in net terminal income, about $257 million a month. Additionally, VGTs draw in loyal new customers.
Want to know what a café could earn? See are video gaming cafés profitable in Illinois.
What Kind of Business Can Become an Illinois Gaming Café?
According to Illinois law and the regulations of the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB), gaming cafes must adhere to the same licensing criteria as pouring establishments: a for-profit business, open to the public, with a valid liquor license that allows on-site consumption.
Before you apply, choose the right structure for your business: see corporate entities for opening a gaming café in Illinois.
Where Can You Open an Illinois Gaming Café?
While Illinois law does not place any unique restrictions on video gaming cafés, many municipalities do impose their own restrictions, regulations, additional fees, and other licensing requirements. For starters, the Illinois Gaming Board provides a list of municipalities that allow video gaming and municipalities that don’t, to be used as a resource for prospective new gaming establishments. It is important to note, however, that each municipality may have stricter guidelines in place regarding gaming operations within their jurisdiction. For example:
- Residency requirements: i.e an establishment must be in business for a set period (often 12 months) before obtaining a municipal gaming license
- Limits on the number of liquor licenses, gaming establishment licenses or VGT licenses allowed within municipal lines
- Specific limitations on number of gaming cafes (or outright banning of cafes)
- Building code requirements for installation of VGTs
Found a space? Before you sign a lease, talk to us.
We can check the local rules for that address and tell you how similar locations nearby perform.
Check a locationHow Do You Obtain a License to Operate an Illinois Gaming Café?
Does your establishment meet the criteria? Is it in a municipality that allows video gaming cafés? In that case, getting a license for a gaming café is a multi-step process.
Among other things, the application process will include a thorough background check for all owners and persons of significant influence and control (PSIC). You can expect a full review of public records of crimes, felonies, and misdemeanors including unsettled debts and domestic disputes. The Board will also look at any past failure to follow gaming licensing requirements (for example, operating unlicensed games and gambling).
The goal of such a thorough investigation process is to ensure gaming establishments are run by honest, ethical individuals.
For every requirement, document and fee, see our full Illinois gaming license requirements guide.
Your Illinois Gaming Café and the Terminal Operator
Obtaining a license for an Illinois video gaming café may sound quite involved, and it is. Fortunately, you don’t have to navigate this process alone. You’ll operate your Illinois gaming café in partnership with a Terminal Operator, who will partner with you from the very beginning.
As one of Illinois’s leading Terminal Operators, our expert team at Universal Gaming Group will guide you through every part of the process of launching and operating a video gaming café. We will be with you from the licensing application onward. We will get your operation going quickly, smoothly, and profitably. We are committed to ensuring full compliance with IGB regulations and to working with the IGB to create a safe gaming environment.
Planning a video gaming café? Let’s start with your license.
Tell us where you want to open and we’ll walk you through the licensing application, the space and what the machines could earn.
Talk to our teamFAQ: Opening a Video Gaming Café in Illinois
Do I need a liquor license to open a gaming café in Illinois?
Yes. Gaming cafés follow the same rules as other pouring establishments, so you need a valid liquor license that allows on-site consumption.
How many video gaming terminals can a gaming café have?
Up to six VGTs, the same limit as other licensed establishments in Illinois.
Can I open a gaming café anywhere in Illinois?
No. Your municipality must allow video gaming, and many towns add their own rules, such as residency periods, license caps or limits on gaming cafés. Check the IGB list and your local ordinance first.
How long does it take to get licensed?
Does the terminal operator help with the application?
Yes. You open a gaming café in partnership with a Terminal Operator, and Universal Gem works with you from the licensing application onward.
If you need more Tips on Opening an Illinois Gaming Café, we invite you contact Universal Gaming Group today.
Ready to open your video gaming café?
Tell us about your plans and the location you have in mind. We’ll call you back with the next steps.
Talk to our teamRelated: What is an Illinois gaming café? · Are video gaming cafés profitable? · Illinois gaming license requirements
