Strictly Slots December 2022

Best Overall Casino: Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel The Best of Slots 2022

CHICAGOLAND Casino Where You Feel Luckiest ❶ Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel ❷ Hollywood Casino Joliet ❸ Grand Victoria Casino Elgin Best Penny Slots ❶ Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel T he Chicagoland area has a deep history with casino gam ing with the first Illinois casinos having opened in 1991. Illi nois casinos are smoke free, although those in Indiana, some of which are closer to the City of Chicago than most of those in Illinois, still allow cigarettes. In 1990, Chicago opted out of the casino enabling act. Because of this, the casinos are located in smaller cities and suburbs that surround Chicago proper rather than being directly in the city itself. However, that looks to be changing after city officials announced this year that a new casino is heading to the city in the coming years.

Best Overall Casino ❶ Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel ❷ Hollywood Casino Joliet ❸ Horseshoe Casino Hammond Best Reel Slots ❶ Hollywood Casino Joliet ❷ Hollywood Casino Aurora ❸ Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel Best Video Slots ❶ Rivers Casino Des Plaines ❷ Horseshoe Casino Hammond ❸ Hollywood Casino Joliet Best Progressive Slots ❶ Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel ❷ Hollywood Casino Aurora ❸ Grand Victoria Casino Elgin Best Video Poker ❶ Harrah’s Joliet ❷ Horseshoe Casino Hammond ❸ Grand Victoria Casino Elgin

❷ Hollywood Casino Joliet ❸ Rivers Casino Des Plaines Best Nickel Slots ❶ Grand Victoria Casino Elgin ❷ Hollywood Casino Aurora ❸ Horseshoe Casino Hammond Best Quarter Slots ❶ Hollywood Casino Joliet ❷ Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel ❸ Grand Victoria Casino Elgin

For the Best of Slots, readers again made note of the same prop erties as seen in last year’s tallies. The same three once again take top billing: Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel in Rock Island coming in first, followed by Hollywood Casino Joliet (about a 45-minute drive south west of the city) and Horseshoe Casino Hammond (Indiana). Bally’s Quad Cities Casino and Hotel repeats as Best Overall Casino for the third straight year and serves the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois. Gamblers will find more than 39,000 square feet of gam ing space. That includes about 900 slot machines and readers voted the property as Best Progressive Slots, Casino Where You Feel Luckiest, Best Penny Slots, Best 50-Cent Slots, Best High-End Slot Area, Best Slot Club, Best Hosts, and Best Customer Service. Hooray for Hollywood. The Hollywood Joliet to be exact, which finished runner-up again for Best Overall Casino. The movie-themed casino has guests living like a star, at least for a bit. The property earned top billing for Best Reel Slots, Best Quarter Slots, Best Players Club Lounge, and finished among the top three in several other cate gories. Rounding out the top three in Chicagoland is Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN. This hotel boasts over 1,350 penny slots and some excellent entertainment and dining options, perfect for a gaming get away. Horseshoe also grabbed some just rewards for Best Variety of Slots and found the podium in many other categories as well.

Best Quarter Slots: Hollywood Casino Joliet

44 DECEMBER 2022 ■ STRICTLY SLOTS ■ www.casinocenter.com