Illinois leads nation in non-casino slots Robert Connelly, The Register-Mail · April 15, 2019 at 5:18 pm Illinois offers more locations to gamble and more machines to play than Nevada — and every other state in the nation. The state boasts boasts 30,384 machines in 6,834 locations. Nevada comes in a distant second with 18,996 machines in 1,984 locations. Only eight states have legalized video gambling outside of casinos: Oregon, South Dakota, West Virginia, Louisiana, Montana, Pennsylvania, along with Illinois and Nevada. Illinois became the leader in video gaming in just over six years, after the first machines went into bars and parlors in 2012. And that’s without Chicago joining the video gaming movement. According to the Illinois Gaming Control Board, patrons lost nearly $1.5 billion in 2018 at video gambling terminals statewide, which became revenue for the state, local municipalities, establishment owners and machine owners.