Video gambling has been a moneymaker. In August, 285 terminals were spread across 66 locations in DeKalb County, according to the Illinois Gaming Board, the agency that oversees video gambling and riverboat gambling. Bettors wagered a total of $11.6 million, losing $914,000. That $914,000 is the net terminal income, 30 percent of which goes to the state, while the remaining 70 percent is split between the machine operator and the business.
“It’s grown quicker than expected,” said Derick Ibarra, a partner in a business that operates cafés in DeKalb and Sycamore.
He said he came from the restaurant business. His family used to own Cabana Charley’s in Sycamore.
It wasn’t a deliberate shift, Ibarra said, but changes in the restaurant industry led to the cafés. He had opened a few terminals next door to the restaurant his family owned, and later, when it came time to reconcept the restaurant, he said he felt someone else could do a better job.
