How to Self-Exclude From Gambling in Illinois: Casinos, Sportsbooks, Lottery & More
If you’ve reached the point where deleting a gambling app, setting another deposit limit, or promising yourself you’ll stop isn’t enough, self-exclusion can create a much stronger barrier between you and your next bet.
In Illinois, though, self-exclusion is more complicated than filling out one online form.
The Illinois Gaming Board’s Self-Exclusion Program covers Illinois casinos and licensed sports wagering, including online sportsbooks. The Illinois Lottery runs a separate program. Video gaming terminals — the slot and poker machines in thousands of Illinois bars and restaurants — are handled differently again, and currently are not covered by binding self-exclusion at all. And a 2026 change to Illinois law added fantasy contests to the framework, though the details are still being worked out.
Here’s what each program actually does, and what you should understand before you enroll.
Self-exclusion is one wall, and it is the strongest one available to you — but it is still one wall. If you want the rest of the first day around it, my 24-hour plan for your first day without betting covers the apps, the payment routes, the marketing and getting through game night.
The Short Version: How Do I Self-Exclude From Gambling in Illinois?
For Illinois casinos and licensed sportsbooks, you enroll through the Illinois Gaming Board’s Self-Exclusion Program. You must:
Find an approved Illinois Gaming Board enrollment location.
Complete the enrollment in person — there is no online sign-up for this program.
Bring a valid driver’s license or state-issued identification card.
Complete the enrollment paperwork and identification process.
Understand that you are agreeing to remain on the Self-Exclusion List for a minimum of five years.
The Gaming Board says enrollment generally takes about 30 to 45 minutes, and there is no fee. If English isn’t your first language, the IGB asks that you arrange for an English-speaking friend or relative to come along and translate.
Once enrolled, you are prohibited from gambling at Illinois casinos and from participating in licensed Illinois sports wagering. That includes online sports betting.
Does Illinois Self-Exclusion Include DraftKings, FanDuel, and Other Sportsbooks?
Yes. If a sportsbook operates legally under Illinois’s sports wagering system, the Self-Exclusion Program applies to it.
Self-exclusion isn’t limited to walking into a casino sportsbook. Illinois regulations place specific duties on online operators. Under the state’s sports wagering rules, an operator running internet wagering must:
refuse to let anyone on the Self-Exclusion List open a new sports wagering account;
identify and suspend any existing account belonging to someone on the list;
void outstanding wagers; and
refund the remaining account balance, following its approved internal control procedures.
So if your concern is mobile sports betting through DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, or another licensed Illinois operator, this program is the relevant one.
That distinction matters, because deleting a sportsbook app is not the same as self-excluding. You can reinstall an app. You can reset a password. You can make another deposit. Self-exclusion creates an external barrier that doesn’t depend entirely on how motivated you feel during your next urge.
What Happens to My Sportsbook Account and My Money?
Your account gets suspended, and the operator refunds whatever balance is left. Note the wording: the rule says suspend, not close or delete. Timing is governed by each operator’s approved internal procedures rather than a fixed deadline, so it varies by sportsbook. Keep your own records.
Pending bets are treated in two different ways, and the difference is worth understanding before you enroll.
If the event hasn’t started yet: wagers placed before you enrolled are void, and you can return an in-person wagering ticket to the sportsbook that issued it for a refund of the original wager amount — the stake, not any potential winnings. That window closes when the event begins. For a parlay, that means the first leg.
If the event has already started: the wager is still void, but now the stake is forfeited. Here is the part almost everyone gets wrong: the money does not go to the sportsbook, and it does not go to the State. It is donated to a charitable or government agency that you yourself designate when you enroll. You will be asked to make that choice as part of the paperwork.
If you have meaningful money tied up in pending bets, futures, or an account balance, ask the enrollment staff how these rules apply to your situation rather than assuming.
Can I Sign Up for Illinois Self-Exclusion Online?
For the Gaming Board program covering casinos and sports wagering, no. Enrollment is completed in person at an approved location. The Board has proposed adding mail, treatment-provider and online routes; none exist yet (see “What’s Changing” below).
The IGB maintains a ZIP-code searchable list of enrollment sites throughout Illinois, and there are also approved enrollment sites in Iowa. Enrollment sites are staffed by people who aren’t compensated by the Gaming Board for doing it.
There is a small contradiction in the IGB’s own guidance worth knowing about. Its Self-Exclusion page says an appointment is not necessary at an IGB office located inside a casino, while noting staff may ask you to come back if they’re handling other duties. Its FAQ separately tells people to call the nearest enrollment site to schedule an appointment.
Practically: call ahead. It costs nothing, and on a day when you’ve decided to act, a wasted trip is worse than a phone call.
Worth separating the two, because people conflate them: the enrollment has to happen in person, but the treatment does not. Online gambling therapy in Illinois covers what telehealth treatment actually involves and what can be set up during a session.
How Long Does Illinois Gambling Self-Exclusion Last?
This is the single most important thing to understand before you sign anything.
The minimum is five years — and in practice it can be much longer than that.
Illinois has one option. There is no 30-day cooling-off period, no one-year version, and no three-year version. It is not equivalent to temporarily locking your sportsbook account. Shorter terms have now been proposed — see “What’s Changing” below — but they are not available yet.
And your name does not fall off the list at the five-year mark. The exclusion continues until you request removal and the Gaming Board grants it. The IGB says in its own words that removal “can be difficult.”
What removal requires:
an affidavit or letter from a licensed mental health professional who is also a certified gambling addiction counselor, or from a psychiatrist, attesting that you can gamble responsibly;
a written recommendation addressing your capacity to gamble without adverse consequences;
a liability waiver;
written consent releasing all of your medical and counseling records;
disclosure of any casino visits made while you were excluded.
The Gaming Board notes that obtaining such an affidavit can be difficult, and that it does not provide referrals to qualified counselors. Letters that don’t follow its guidelines are rejected. And if you gambled while excluded, the IGB may require affidavits from two gambling addiction counselors — the rules let it ask for a second or subsequent recommendation.
The honest way to think about this: you are not signing up for five years. You are signing up for at least five years, after which you may be able to get off the list if a qualified professional and the Gaming Board both agree. Treat it as a decision that is difficult to reverse.
For many people that permanence is exactly the point. But make it with your eyes open.
What Happens If I Gamble After Self-Excluding?
Self-exclusion is more than a promise you make to yourself.
If a self-excluded person is found gambling in an Illinois casino or placing a sports wager, chips, tokens, and wagering slips clearly in their possession are confiscated, and the seized funds are donated to one of two problem-gambling nonprofits — again, one you designate at enrollment. Someone who re-enters an Illinois casino also faces the real possibility of being arrested and charged with trespassing.
One thing the Gaming Board is blunt about: the responsibility for staying out rests with you, not with the IGB or the casinos. The list is a barrier with consequences, not a guarantee that someone will stop you at the door.
Will Self-Exclusion Stop Sportsbook Marketing?
Largely, yes. Illinois rules require licensed sports wagering operators to flag people on the Self-Exclusion List across all mailing, marketing, and promotional databases, and prohibit sending them marketing or promotional material. Casinos must remove self-excluded people from their marketing databases too.
Expect a lag. The IGB says it may take several weeks to stop receiving mailings, because some mass mailings are scheduled months in advance. If promotional mail keeps arriving for a few weeks, that does not mean your enrollment failed. It is worth knowing in advance, because a deposit-match offer landing in your mailbox two weeks after you enroll is exactly the kind of thing that can knock someone sideways.
Deposit match. Bonus bet. Odds boost. No-sweat bet. Your favorite team plays tonight. Getting out of that ecosystem is a real part of the protection.
Does Illinois Self-Exclusion Apply Outside Illinois?
Partly — and this is one of the more useful things to know.
For casinos, the reach is concrete. Casino operators in Illinois can request permission to ban Illinois self-excluded people from all their properties nationwide, and the Gaming Board states that enrollees are excluded from all Illinois casinos as well as all casinos and operations owned by Caesars Entertainment, Boyd Gaming, Penn National Gaming, and MGM. Corporate ownership changes, so treat that list as current rather than permanent.
For sportsbooks, it’s discretionary. The IGB says sports wagering operators may choose to ban Illinois self-excluded people from wagering with them in other jurisdictions. Some will; some won’t.
So don’t assume you can simply drive across a state line and pick up where you left off — but don’t assume you’re blocked everywhere either. If you regularly gamble in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, or Michigan, ask how your exclusion will be treated there.
Can My Spouse Put Me on the Illinois Self-Exclusion List?
No. The program is voluntary and you have to enroll yourself, in person.
The Gaming Board is explicit that a person cannot exclude their spouse or significant other. The same in-person, voluntary requirement means a parent, employer, or therapist can’t do it for you either.
The IGB also will not tell a spouse, significant other, or employer whether someone is on the list. Enrollees receive copies of everything they sign and can request replacements, so if you want a family member to know you’ve enrolled, showing them your paperwork is the way.
If you are the spouse or partner in this situation, that distinction — what you can ask for versus what you can do for them — runs through the whole problem. I have written a separate guide on what to do when your partner has a gambling problem, covering the financial picture, Illinois debt liability, and how to tell real recovery from another promise.
This is genuinely hard for families who can see the damage clearly while the person gambling isn’t ready to act. If that’s where you are, there are still things you can do — protecting yourself financially, setting boundaries around money — and our page for parents and family members goes into that.
What About the Illinois Lottery?
The Illinois Lottery runs its own self-exclusion process, entirely separate from the Gaming Board program. Different agency, different rulebook, different enrollment channel. Enrolling in one does not enroll you in the other.
Online Lottery play
If you have an Illinois Lottery online account, you can request exclusion from online ticket purchases by calling the Illinois Player Hotline at 1-800-252-1775, for a minimum of five years.
During the exclusion period you lose access to your online player account, you can’t play online games, remaining account funds are automatically refunded, active subscriptions are cancelled, and Lottery marketing communications stop.
One detail that catches people out: if you bought a ticket before requesting exclusion but the drawing happens afterward, the Lottery withholds any prize from that ticket.
All Lottery play, online and retail
The Lottery also offers a broader voluntary self-exclusion covering online and in-store games. That one requires reviewing the agreement, speaking with a counselor at 1-800-GAMBLER, signing the agreement in front of a notary public, and mailing it to the Lottery’s legal section in Springfield.
Under the current rule, you choose your minimum term: one year, five years, or lifetime. (Lifetime is available only after you’ve already been enrolled at least six months.) Worth flagging: the Lottery’s own posted PDF still describes a flat five-year minimum and appears to predate a 2023 rule change, so go by the rule and confirm when you call.
And the harshest provision anywhere in this landscape: a self-excluded player is barred from claiming or receiving any prize. The agreement has you relinquish any claim to prize winnings; a prize that would otherwise be due is void and uncollectible, and you cannot get a refund for the product you bought either. If you play anyway and win, you collect nothing.
If scratch-offs, Fast Play, or online Lottery games are a meaningful part of the problem, don’t assume casino and sportsbook self-exclusion covers it. It doesn’t.
Can You Self-Exclude From Slot Machines in Illinois Bars and Restaurants?
Not really — and this is the most important gap in the Illinois system.
Illinois has roughly 9,000 licensed video gaming locations operating around 49,000 video gaming terminals: the electronic slot and poker machines in bars, restaurants, truck stops, and similar establishments. For comparison, the state has 17 authorized casinos.
The Gaming Board operates a Video Gaming Problem Gambling Registry, and states plainly that enrolling in the registry is not the same as enrolling in the Self-Exclusion Program.
The registry is confidential, free, available online, and cancellable by the participant at any time. It sends you problem-gambling information and links to prevention and treatment resources in Illinois.
What it does not do is stop you from playing. There is no confiscation, no trespass exposure, no enforcement. Illinois currently has no binding self-exclusion for video gaming terminals.
This matters enormously if VGTs are your main problem. Someone who enrolls in the Self-Exclusion Program believing they are now blocked from every form of gambling in Illinois can walk into a bar down the street and play. If that’s your pattern, self-exclusion is still worth doing, but you will need other barriers alongside it.
The Gaming Board said in June 2026 that extending self-exclusion into video gaming was an agency priority. In September 2026 it went further, adopting a resolution that makes VGT coverage official IGB policy and endorsing a mechanism: identity card readers on the redemption terminals already in licensed establishments, with the machines moving to ticket-in, ticket-out play so they no longer take cash directly. That is a real commitment with a real design. It is not a date — technical standards, implementing rules and a public rulemaking process all come first. Today’s rules are the ones to plan around.
What’s Changing: The Gaming Board’s September 2026 Proposals
Updated September 4, 2026.
At its September 2026 meeting, the Illinois Gaming Board adopted three proposed amendments to the Self-Exclusion Program and a resolution on video gaming. None of it is in effect. The amendments go to the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) — the state’s public rulemaking process — before they can take effect, and that typically takes months. Everything else in this article describes the program as it stands today.
What the proposals would do:
Shorter terms. Tiered enrollment periods of six months, one year, three years, five years, and indefinite, replacing the current five-year minimum. The Board’s stated reason is to reduce “the friction and potential disincentives” the current term creates at the point of enrollment — in plain language, that the five-year commitment stops people at the door.
Remote enrollment. Authority to add channels beyond in-person enrollment: a notarized mail option, referral through a treatment provider, or an online portal. The amendment grants the authority; the Board says building those channels “will require further steps and technical development.” Don’t expect an online form soon.
A Marketing Exclusion List. A voluntary list that would keep targeted marketing away from you for a default 12 months after your exclusion term ends — the stretch when a deposit-match offer is most dangerous. It restricts what operators may send you, not what you may choose to receive.
On video gaming, the Board adopted a resolution making it IGB policy to bring VGTs into the Self-Exclusion Program, with identity card readers on the machines’ redemption terminals as the method. The section above covers what that does and doesn’t mean.
What this means if you are deciding now: nothing changes. If five years has been the thing stopping you, the honest answer is that shorter terms are coming and are not here, and waiting for them means leaving the door open for months in the meantime. Enroll under today’s rules. I will update this page when any of this takes effect.
What About Fantasy Sports?
Illinois law changed recently. Public Act 104-0468, effective June 16, 2026, amended the Sports Wagering Act so that a person may voluntarily prohibit themselves from establishing a fantasy contest account, and directs the Gaming Board to fold fantasy contests into its existing self-exclusion program.
The law directs it; that doesn’t mean it is live yet. As of this writing the Gaming Board’s public Self-Exclusion page still describes the program in terms of casinos and sports wagering, and doesn’t explain fantasy-contest implementation. At its September 2026 meeting the Board also adopted proposed rules for regulating fantasy contests; those, too, must go through JCAR before they take effect.
If fantasy contests are part of your gambling, check the IGB’s current guidance and ask at enrollment rather than relying on this or any other article. It’s a good general rule here: gambling regulations move, and self-exclusion procedures move with them.
Is Self-Exclusion the Same as Closing Your Accounts?
No, and the difference shows up later.
Closing accounts one at a time is still useful. But it depends on you finding and closing every account, and then not reopening one or signing up with a different operator.
When the urge is low, closing an account feels easy. The real test comes three weeks later when your team is playing, you’re bored on a Saturday, you just got paid, or you’ve convinced yourself that this time it’s only $50.
A good plan doesn’t only account for what you want today. It accounts for how easily you can undo that decision during your strongest urge.
Is Self-Exclusion Enough to Stop Gambling?
Self-exclusion can be extremely useful. But I don’t treat it as the same thing as treating a gambling problem.
Self-exclusion is a barrier. Therapy addresses the pattern behind the behavior.
Someone can block DraftKings and still spend hours thinking about the money they’ve lost. You can stay out of casinos and still feel an overwhelming urge to find another way to gamble. You can shut down sportsbooks while the same behavior migrates into options trading, crypto, offshore sites, or another high-risk activity.
Self-exclusion doesn’t automatically resolve:
secrecy and the conversations you haven’t had yet
urges and cravings
boredom after quitting
anxiety and shame about what’s already happened
impulsivity, including where ADHD is part of the picture
drinking that goes along with gambling
the belief that one big win could still repair the damage
Those are separate pieces of recovery.
Self-exclusion is one layer. For the rest of the plan — sportsbook limits, blocking software, money friction, what to do when the urge hits and what to do after a slip — see the guide to how to stop sports betting, which is built around the football season.
Why Self-Exclusion Is Still Worth Doing
In my work with people struggling with gambling, one question I care about is: how much time exists between the urge to gamble and the ability to place a bet?
For most people now, the answer is almost none. The phone is already in your hand. The account is already funded. The bank is already linked. The bet takes seconds.
That is a difficult environment in which to rely on willpower alone.
Self-exclusion creates friction. Instead of asking yourself to make the right decision every single time an urge shows up, you make one larger decision at a moment when you can think clearly.
It doesn’t eliminate urges. It makes acting on them considerably harder. That is worth a great deal.
You Don’t Need to Lose Everything First
People delay self-exclusion because it feels too serious. Five years sounds like a long time, so they tell themselves: I’ll lower my deposit limit. I’ll only bet weekends. I’ll stop after football season. I’ll use one sportsbook. I’ll give myself one more chance.
Sometimes those limits hold. But if you’ve made versions of the same promise repeatedly and gambling keeps returning to the same place, that’s information worth taking seriously.
You don’t have to empty your savings, max out your cards, damage your marriage, or put your job at risk before putting a stronger barrier in place. And you don’t have to win your losses back first.
Getting Help for Gambling in Illinois
If you’re considering self-exclusion, get the current enrollment process and locations directly from the Illinois Gaming Board’s Self-Exclusion Program page, since the details in any article can go out of date.
For problem-gambling support and treatment referrals in Illinois, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER, or text GAMB to 833234. Nationally, 1-800-MY-RESET. If you’re in crisis, call or text 988.
If you’re not sure how serious your gambling has become, the free gambling addiction test on this site uses a validated screening questionnaire and scores your answers in your browser — nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
And if you’re looking for treatment, I provide specialized therapy for gambling problems in Chicago and online throughout Illinois and Minnesota. In gambling therapy we can look at more than whether you should delete an app: what happens before you gamble, what keeps bringing you back, how you respond to losses, how money becomes available, and what would have to change to make the next bet less likely.
Reach out to schedule a consultation whenever you’re ready.
Self-exclusion can close a door. Treatment can help you understand why you keep wanting to walk back through it.
This article describes Illinois programs as of publication and is general information, not legal advice. Self-exclusion rules change — confirm current requirements with the Illinois Gaming Board or the Illinois Lottery before enrolling. Last verified against Illinois Gaming Board and Illinois Lottery guidance: September 4, 2026.