How to get slot machines in your bar
They are called Video Gaming Terminals (VGTs) in Illinois, and putting them in your bar takes four things: a town that permits video gaming, an eligible establishment, your own IGB license, and a licensed terminal operator to supply and service the terminals.
The part nobody tells you up front: Illinois sets what you earn by statute, so every licensed terminal operator offers the same financial terms. The decision in front of you is a service decision.
Four steps, in this order
Each one gates the next. Skipping to the last is how owners end up signed with the first terminal operator who called them.
Check that your town allows video gaming
This is the first gate and the one that ends the most conversations. Local government decides whether video gaming is permitted at all, and the answer varies from town to town. Ask your municipal clerk before you do anything else — everything below assumes the answer is yes.
Confirm your establishment qualifies
Illinois admits specific kinds of business — bars, restaurants, truck stops, fraternal and veterans' clubs — and each carries its own conditions. Your existing licenses matter here, so this is a question for the Illinois Gaming Board and your attorney, not for a terminal operator hoping to sign you.
Get licensed by the IGB
The location holds its own IGB license, separate from the terminal operator’s. Applying takes disclosure and time, and it is yours — it does not belong to whichever terminal operator you sign with, which is what makes changing later possible at all.
Choose a licensed terminal operator
You do not buy the machines. A licensed terminal operator owns them, installs them, services them and reports to the IGB. Your side of the agreement is the room and the license. This is the decision this whole page is about, and it is the one most owners make with a sample size of one.
Four things worth knowing before you sign anything
You don't buy anything. The terminal operator supplies and owns the terminals, and pays to install and maintain them. A location that is asked to buy hardware to get slot machines is being told something is wrong.
The money is set by law, not by negotiation. In Illinois, the after-tax split is fixed 50/50 by statute (230 ILCS 40/25(c)). Every licensed terminal operator in the state offers you the identical financial terms, because they are required to. Anyone promising you more than the statute allows is describing something they cannot legally do.
So the real decision is service. Which games you get, how old the terminals are, how often they are refreshed, how fast somebody comes out when one goes dark. Those vary enormously between terminal operators, they are not fixed by anything, and they are what a location actually lives with for years.
There is a limit on how many terminals you can run. A bar in Illinois is capped at 6. That cap is the same for everyone, so a bigger room does not mean a bigger terminal count — it means more people around the ones you have.
None of this is legal advice, and eligibility turns on details of your own business. The Illinois Gaming Board publishes the licensing requirements, and your attorney is the right person to read them against your situation.
Why the terminal operator you pick is the whole decision
Because the money is fixed, the only thing left to compare is what a terminal operator will actually do for you — and that is the part that is hard to see before you sign. Most owners talk to whoever knocked, sign, and find out afterward how the terminals age and how long a service call takes.
The Gameset exists to invert that. You post what your location is without naming your business, licensed terminal operators read the same anonymous profile, and they submit written service offers — games, terminal age, refresh cadence, response time — that you compare side by side before anyone knows who you are. Listing is free, and you can award no one.
Common questions
- How do I get slot machines in my bar?
Four things, in order: confirm your municipality permits video gaming, confirm your establishment is an eligible type, obtain your own IGB license from the Illinois Gaming Board, and sign a use agreement with a licensed terminal operator. The terminal operator owns and services the terminals — you provide the room and hold the license.
- What does it cost to put slot machines in a bar?
You do not buy the terminals. A licensed terminal operator owns them and pays to install and maintain them. Your costs are your own license application and the IGB's fees. If a terminal operator asks you to purchase hardware to get terminals, treat that as a signal to ask more questions.
- How much does a bar earn from slot machines in Illinois?
The share is fixed by statute, not negotiated: in Illinois, the after-tax split is fixed 50/50 by statute (230 ILCS 40/25(c)). What varies is how much play a room generates, which depends on your traffic, your hours and how long people stay — not on which terminal operator you sign with. No terminal operator can offer you a better share than another one.
See real Illinois location data- How many terminals can a bar have?
Illinois caps a bar at 6. The cap is set by law and applies to every location of that type, so it is not something a terminal operator can increase for you.
- How do I choose a terminal operator?
Because the financial terms are identical by law, compare service: which games they carry, how old their terminals are, how often they refresh them, and how fast they respond when one stops working. The Gameset was built to make exactly that comparison possible — you post what your location is, anonymously, and licensed terminal operators submit written service offers you can read side by side.
How The Gameset works
See what terminal operators will commit to
Post your bar anonymously and read written service offers side by side. Free for locations.
You stay anonymous until you award, and you are never obliged to award at all.