Skip to main content
IL
← Look up another Location

THE THIRSTY BARREL LLC

Mason City · Mason County · IL · 6 terminals
IGB license 210701262 · Operator: Gold Rush Amusements, Inc. (as of August 2026)
Download the one-pager (PDF)
Efficient gamesetMomentum −29%YoY +18%

Your performance · August 2026

NTI
$10,836
net terminal income · this month
Win per unit
$58
per machine · per day
Terminals
6
machines in service
Annual NTI
$116,526
trailing 12 months

The four numbers operators read first

NTI / machine
$1,806
monthly · per terminal
state median $4,345/mo
20th pct of 8,611 IL locations
#20 of 31 in Mason County
Hold
12.2%
this month
state median 9.4% · above
89th pct of 8,611 IL locations
90th pct of 31 in Mason County
Cycle rate
2.61×
this month
state median 2.60× · engagement
51st pct of 8,611 IL locations
42nd pct of 31 in Mason County
Play / machine
$14.7K
monthly · per terminal
state median $47.1K/mo
13th pct of 8,611 IL locations
34th pct of 31 in Mason County

Against locations your size (6+ terminals, 6,794 of them), your NTI/machine is −$3,303/mo vs the $5,109 peer median — bucketing by size keeps a small bar from being measured against a big one.

Where the money goes (August 2026)

NTI this month
$10,836
Gaming tax
−$3,793
After tax
$7,044
Your take-home
$3,522
your 50% this month
Gaming tax$3,793 · 35%Operator's 50%$3,522 · 32%Yours, 50%$3,522 · 32%

Illinois law fixes the after-tax split at 50/50 and bans any deviation (230 ILCS 40/25(c)) — about $3,522 to you and $3,522 to your operator this month. Neither side can move that split. That's the whole point of The Gameset: with the split set by statute, operators compete for your gameset on service — games, cabinets, refresh cadence, response time.

Where your gameset stands

Efficient gameset

You earn a strong hold from steady traffic — the lever here is drawing more play, not squeezing the machines.

What an operator sees: An operator sees a well-run, efficient gameset — attractive, with upside if foot traffic can be grown.

NTI/machine — 20th percentile of 8,611 Illinois locations this month
In Mason County — #20 of 31 locations by NTI/machine (your own neighborhood, the fairest like-for-like)
Among locations your size (6+ terminals) — 14th percentile of 6,794
Your gameset — you among your Mason County peers30 peer locations
play per machine →
your gameset a Mason County peer (anonymized) statewide median

1 peer location sits beyond the axis range and is drawn at the edge — shown, never dropped.

Each gray dot is another Mason County gameset for the same month, shown without identity. The dashed lines are the statewide medians — which quadrant you land in is the positioning above, drawn out.

Trend

Net terminal income by monthpeak $26,059
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
latest month up vs prior down vs prior Mason County median ($12,079) shown, left out of rankings
Cycle rate by monthlatest 2.61× · state median 2.60×
your cycle rate state median

Cycle rate is a leading indicator: when players start cycling their money fewer times, it usually shows up here before it shows up in NTI — an early read on gameset health for you and for an operator.

Win per unit by monthlatest $58 · Mason County median $78
your WPU (per machine, per day) Mason County median WPU
Hold % by monthlatest 12.2% · state median 9.4%
your hold state median hold

These are the two series a service change shows up in. Fresher titles and faster response tend to move win per unit first; hold follows the game mix. Both are your own numbers against a neutral market line — not a verdict on anyone.

This year against last, by monthAugust 2026 up 18% on a year earlier
September 2025 – August 2026September 2024 – August 2025

A month that looks like a collapse is often just that month. Laid over the same months a year earlier, a seasonal dip and a real decline stop looking alike.

Seasonality check: July → August moved +301% this year vs −48% a year ago — so a normal seasonal dip isn't mistaken for a real decline.

Your town's market

Mason City's total gaming income is −13% year over year (trailing 3 months vs the same 3 a year ago).

Your own gameset is +18% over the same-month-last-year comparison — holding up as well as or better than the town around you.

A deeper operator read

The same history, cut the way a Terminal Operator cuts it when they decide how hard to compete for your gameset.

Win per unit (WPU)
$58/day
per machine · per day · Mason County median $78/day · −25%
At the Mason County median this gameset would add roughly $43,897 a year.
WPU momentum
−47%
last 3 months $31/day vs prior 3 $59/day
Seasonality
March peak
strongest March ($13,481 avg) · softest September ($7,430 avg)
Revenue steadiness
volatile
±40% month-to-month swing, trailing 12

Your operator

Gold Rush Amusements, Inc.

Linked to your Location as of August 2026 — the Illinois Gaming Board publishes this each month, so a recent change may not show yet.

Locations
729
Avg NTI / Location
$37,312
Avg NTI / Terminal
$6,498
Total NTI
$27,200,241

Year over year

Your NTI is −27% down year over year, trailing the Mason County market (+7%).

Your Location
−27%
$116,526 vs $158,851 (last 12 months vs the prior 12)
The market (Mason County)
+7%
typical Location: $17,297 vs $16,234

Takeaways

•Each terminal earned about $1,806 in August 2026 — the 20th percentile of 8,611 Illinois locations that month. Per-terminal NTI is the number operators judge a gameset by, because it strips out how many machines you run.
•Within Mason County, that's #20 of 31 locations by per-terminal earnings — the fairest like-for-like, since neighbors share the same foot traffic and economy.
•Hold — the share of money played that the gameset keeps — was 12.2% — above the 9.4% state median. Hold is driven mostly by the games in the gameset, which is exactly what an operator brings to the table.
•A dollar cycled through your machines 2.61× before leaving — higher means longer, more engaged sessions. When the cycle rate starts falling it usually shows up before NTI does, so it's an early read on gameset health for both sides.
•Efficient gameset — You earn a strong hold from steady traffic — the lever here is drawing more play, not squeezing the machines.
•After $3,793 in gaming tax, August 2026's income is split 50/50 with your operator by law (230 ILCS 40/25(c)) — about $3,522 to you. Neither side can move that split, which is why operators here compete on service.
•Recent momentum is softening — −29% against your trailing average.
•Terminal Operator Gold Rush Amusements, Inc. runs 729 Locations in our data.
There's headroom in these numbers.

Operators bid on what they'd put in your gameset — newer cabinets, better titles, faster fixes. We'll turn your profile into an anonymized Listing they compete on.

Create your Listing
Full August 2026 report detail
Amount played
$88,486
Amount won
$77,650
Net wager
$10,836
Funds in
$33,905
Funds out
$23,069
Net terminal income
$10,836
NTI tax
$3,793
State share
$3,250
Municipality share
$542

Source: Illinois Gaming Board monthly video gaming reports. This is public data about your own licensed Location, shown for informational purposes.