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WILLY'S RESTAURANT

Sterling · Whiteside County · IL · 4 terminals
IGB license 220701325 · Operator: Gold Rush Amusements, Inc. (as of August 2026)
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Efficient gamesetMomentum −10%3-month NTI decline

Your performance · August 2026

NTI
$3,899
net terminal income · this month
Win per unit
$31
per machine · per day
Terminals
4
machines in service
Annual NTI
$56,200
trailing 12 months

The four numbers operators read first

NTI / machine
$975
monthly · per terminal
state median $4,345/mo
9th pct of 8,611 IL locations
#33 of 34 in Sterling
Hold
11.5%
this month
state median 9.4% · above
83rd pct of 8,611 IL locations
79th pct of 34 in Sterling
Cycle rate
3.40×
this month
state median 2.60× · engagement
97th pct of 8,611 IL locations
99th pct of 34 in Sterling
Play / machine
$8.5K
monthly · per terminal
state median $47.1K/mo
5th pct of 8,611 IL locations
12th pct of 34 in Sterling

Against locations your size (4–5 terminals, 1,547 of them), your NTI/machine is −$1,265/mo vs the $2,240 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
$3,899
Gaming tax
−$1,365
After tax
$2,535
Your take-home
$1,267
your 50% this month
Gaming tax$1,365 · 35%Operator's 50%$1,267 · 32%Yours, 50%$1,267 · 32%

Illinois law fixes the after-tax split at 50/50 and bans any deviation (230 ILCS 40/25(c)) — about $1,267 to you and $1,267 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 — 9th percentile of 8,611 Illinois locations this month
In Sterling — #33 of 34 locations by NTI/machine (your own neighborhood, the fairest like-for-like)
Among locations your size (4–5 terminals) — 21st percentile of 1,547
Your gameset — you among your Sterling peers33 peer locations
play per machine →
your gameset a Sterling peer (anonymized) statewide median

Each gray dot is another Sterling 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 $17,873
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
latest month up vs prior down vs prior Sterling median ($17,873) shown, left out of rankings
Cycle rate by monthlatest 3.40× · 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 $31 · Sterling median $96
your WPU (per machine, per day) Sterling median WPU
Hold % by monthlatest 11.5% · 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 month
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 −15% this year vs −211% a year ago — so a normal seasonal dip isn't mistaken for a real decline.

Your town's market

Sterling's total gaming income is −2% year over year (trailing 3 months vs the same 3 a year ago).

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)
$31/day
per machine · per day · Sterling median $96/day · −67%
At the Sterling median this gameset would add roughly $96,189 a year.
WPU momentum
−15%
last 3 months $39/day vs prior 3 $46/day
Seasonality
April peak
strongest April ($5,299 avg) · softest October ($2,720 avg)
Revenue steadiness
volatile
±32% 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 +78% up year over year, outpacing the Whiteside County market (+0%).

Your Location
+78%
$56,200 vs $31,640 (last 12 months vs the prior 12)
The market (Whiteside County)
+0%
typical Location: $25,157 vs $25,035

Takeaways

•Each terminal earned about $975 in August 2026 — the 9th 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 Sterling, that's #33 of 34 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 11.5% — 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 3.40× 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 $1,365 in gaming tax, August 2026's income is split 50/50 with your operator by law (230 ILCS 40/25(c)) — about $1,267 to you. Neither side can move that split, which is why operators here compete on service.
•Heads-up: NTI has slipped three months running. Worth a look — it can be seasonal (check the year-ago comparison), or a sign the gameset is due for fresher titles or better service.
•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
$33,925
Amount won
$30,026
Net wager
$3,899
Funds in
$9,985
Funds out
$6,086
Net terminal income
$3,899
NTI tax
$1,365
State share
$1,170
Municipality share
$195

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