Latest News
Rivers Casino Waukegan Proposed by State’s Most Successful Casino Owners
Reading Time: 5 minutes
The developer, operator and owners of the state’s most successful casino, Rivers Casino Des Plaines, which earns more than twice as much gaming revenue as any other casino in the state, are teaming up to propose building a 1,625-gaming-seat Rivers Casino Waukegan. Rivers Casino Waukegan expects to create over 1,200 permanent jobs; 900 union construction jobs and pump over $150 million annually into the local Waukegan and Lake County economy.
Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) and Rush Street Gaming, which jointly own Rivers Casino Des Plaines, would bring their combined expertise as developers and operators of some of the most successful gambling and entertainment venues in the country to Waukegan at the Fountain Square site at Lakehurst and Northpoint Boulevard. The companies say their proven marketing and customer service approach will attract high-end patrons to Waukegan.
Rush Street, the creator of the Rivers Casino brand, is the leading developer of world-class regional casinos in Des Plaines, New York state, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In addition to its premier position in Illinois, Rivers is the market leader in the Capital Region of New York state as well as in Pittsburgh.
CDI is an industry-leading racing, online wagering and gaming entertainment company anchored by its flagship event – The Kentucky Derby. The company owns and operates 10 regional gaming facilities in eight states, as well as Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights.
Opening a second Rivers-branded casino in Waukegan creates a synergy in the market. Rivers, with a premier reputation among its customers, would bring Illinois’ leading gaming brand and proven record to Waukegan, delivering a tremendous benefit to the city that no other applicant can offer.
Other benefits and highlights of the proposal to bring Rivers Casino to Waukegan are:
- Rivers Casino Des Plaines is the most successful casino in Illinois and hosted 2.9 million admissions in 2018. Its extensive patron database will help to attract players from throughout the region to Rivers Casino Waukegan, complementing—rather than cannibalizing—current local video gaming operators.
- Rush Street Interactive, recognized by industry publisher EGR (e-gaming review) as Mobile Operator of the Year for North America, will operate in-casino and online sports betting for the proposed showplace. Affiliates of Rush Street operate the most successful sports books in Pennsylvania and New York.
- The casino would feature Luxbar, an upscale gastropub, the first Gibsons Restaurant Group restaurant in Lake County.
- The casino would have 1,625 proposed gaming seats, including a poker room, at the opening with the flexibility to add more.
- CDI and Rush Street are offering to purchase or lease the city-owned Fountain Square property.
- Rivers Casino Waukegan will make annual contributions to charities in Waukegan, Park City and North Chicago.
- Rivers Casino Des Plaines is the first and only casino in Illinois to comply with a statutory minority- and women-ownership requirement. Rivers Casino Waukegan will use that experience to build strong minority- and women-ownership participation for the new venture. Rush Street also encourages diversity in its ranks, with 46 percent of employees and 28 percent of executives being persons of color.
“We’re happy to be considered to develop and operate what we know will be a leading entertainment destination for the City of Waukegan, Lake County and the State of Illinois,” said Rush Street Gaming CEO Greg Carlin. “It would be an honor to bring the Rivers brand and experience to Waukegan.”
“We are especially proud of our long history of hiring local people and vendors in every market where we have invested. Rush Street spends more than $23 million dollars annually on firms owned by women and minorities,” said Rush Street Gaming Chairman Neil Bluhm. “We’re especially proud of our diverse workforce and the career opportunities we have provided our associates.”
“Waukegan and Lake County deserve a world-class facility and together, with our partner Churchill Downs Incorporated, that is exactly what we will develop,” said Bluhm. “We look forward to sharing more about our proposal with city leaders.”
“Churchill Downs Incorporated has a 145-year track record of offering unmatched premium entertainment experiences for horse racing fans and significant expertise developing premier casino venues for our patrons throughout the United States,” said Bill Carstanjen, Chief Executive Officer of CDI. “We are proud to partner with Rush Street Gaming to bring our shared vision for a world-class entertainment destination to Waukegan.”
About Rush Street Gaming
Founded by Neil Bluhm and Greg Carlin, Rush Street Gaming and its affiliates, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, have developed and operate successful casinos in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Des Plaines, Illinois (Chicago area) and Schenectady, New York. Rush Street Gaming and its affiliates has become one of the leading casino developers in the United States and operators of online casinos and sports books. Additional information at: www.rushstreetgaming.com
About Churchill Downs Incorporated
Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (Nasdaq: CHDN), headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is an industry-leading racing, online wagering and gaming entertainment company anchored by our iconic flagship event – The Kentucky Derby. We own and operate Derby City Gaming, a historical racing machine facility in Louisville. We also own and operate the largest online horseracing wagering platform in the U.S., TwinSpires.com, and are a leader in brick-and-mortar casino gaming with approximately 11,000 slot machines / video lottery terminals and 200 table games in eight states. We also operate sports wagering and iGaming through our BetAmerica platform in multiple states. Additional information about CDI can be found online at www.churchilldownsincorporated.com.
Information set forth in this news release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”), which provides certain “safe harbor” provisions. All forward-looking statements made in this presentation are made pursuant to the Act. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the following: the effect of economic conditions on our consumers’ confidence and discretionary spending or our access to credit; additional or increased taxes and fees; public perceptions or lack of confidence in the integrity of our business; loss of key or highly skilled personnel; restrictions in our debt facilities limiting our flexibility to operate our business; general risks related to real estate ownership, including fluctuations in market values and environmental regulations; catastrophic events and system failures disrupting our operations; online security risk, including cyber-security breaches; inability to recover under our insurance policies for damages sustained at our properties in the event of inclement weather and casualty events; increases in insurance costs and inability to obtain similar insurance coverage in the future; inability to identify and complete acquisition, expansion or divestiture projects, on time, on budget or as planned; difficulty in integrating recent or future acquisitions into our operations; number of people attending and wagering on live horse races; inability to respond to rapid technological changes in a timely manner; inadvertent infringement of the intellectual property of others; inability to protect our own intellectual property rights; payment-related risks, such as risk associated with fraudulent credit card and debit card use; compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or applicable money-laundering regulations; work stoppages and labor issues; difficulty in attracting a sufficient number of horses and trainers for full field horseraces; inability to negotiate agreements with industry constituents, including horsemen and other racetracks; personal injury litigation related to injuries occurring at our racetracks; our inability to utilize and provide totalisator services; weather conditions affecting our ability to conduct live racing; increased competition in the horseracing business; changes in the regulatory environment of our racing operations; changes in regulatory environment of our online horseracing business; increase in competition in our online horseracing; uncertainty and changes in the legal landscape relating to our online wagering business; legalization of online sports betting and iGaming in the United States and our ability to predict and capitalize on any such legalization; inability to expand our sports betting operations and effectively compete; failure to comply with laws requiring us to block access to certain individuals could result in penalties or impairment with respect to our mobile and online wagering products; increased competition in our casino business; changes in regulatory environment of our casino business; costs, delays, and other uncertainties relating to the development and expansion of casinos; and concentration and evolution of slot machine manufacturing and other technology conditions that could impose additional costs.
Source: Latest News on European Gaming Media Network
This is a Syndicated News piece. Photo credits or photo sources can be found on the source article: Rivers Casino Waukegan Proposed by State’s Most Successful Casino Owners
Latest News
The App You Need to Download if You’re Tired of Throwing in League of Legends
Reading Time: 3 minutes
GIANTX launches iTero Standalone — the new and improved version of its AI-powered coaching tool already used by more than half a million players worldwide
If you’ve ever thrown a game because of a bad draft, missed rotations, or your jungler vanished before minute three, there’s now an app that might finally help you clean up your gameplay: iTero.
Developed by the global esports organization GIANTX, the new version of its artificial intelligence training tool —iTero Standalone— arrives with a clear mission: to help players level up their League of Legends performance once and for all.
The new version is fully independent and available for direct download, offering faster performance, better precision, and a smoother overall experience. Lighter, smarter, and more stable, iTero Standalone represents the next step in the evolution of GIANTX’s technology ecosystem, with full control over development and updates.
Founded by Jack Joseph Williams in 2022 and acquired by GIANTX in 2024, iTero Gaming has been developing and refining AI-driven coaching systems for both casual and professional players. Its first virtual coach was designed to enhance the League of Legends experience -developed by Riot Games- by analyzing millions of real matches every patch to deliver personalized recommendations, from strategic macro decisions to champion select choices.
With over 500,000 downloads worldwide, iTero has become one of the most popular performance tools among players of all skill levels. With the release of iTero Standalone, it now aims to become the leading AI coaching platform for gamers.
Five Ways iTero Actually Helps You Get Better at League of Legends
1. It tells you what to pick — and why.
The AI analyzes your team’s and the enemy’s composition to recommend the champion that has the highest chance of winning that game, based on your stats and the current meta. No more questionable picks.
2. And what Build to choose!
After helping you pick the best Champion for the game, the AI also analyzes the enemy composition to decide what the best items, runes, and summoners to take for that specific game. That even includes checking whether anti-heal or anti-shield items are efficient enough to buy!
3. It reviews your matches like a real coach.
After each session, the AI gives data-driven feedback on your macro performance throughout the game and identifies areas you performed well on, and what you struggled with. After ten games, you unlock the AI Macro Coach, which compares your stats with players of your same rank and shows where you’re consistently falling behind.
4. It provides actionable insights about the players in your lobby.
Using its unique data the Scouting Tool provides you with all the information you need to know whilst loading into a game, whether that’s learning that the enemy support loves to invade, your Jungler likes to spend their early game power-farming, or that your lane opponent plays aggressively.
5. All the overlays you expect, and more.
From tracking the gold difference, timing your inhibitor respawns, or quickly checking who has the Baron buff, iTero has every overlay you need to stay on top of your solo queue games.
A New Chapter in the GIANTX Ecosystem
The launch of iTero Standalone reinforces GIANTX’s commitment to technological innovation and expands its presence beyond competition, driving the creation of useful, data-powered products for the gaming and esports community. The organization also practices what it preaches: GIANTX’s performance department already uses AI-based tools to scout talent and support decision-making at the highest competitive level.
With this new version of iTero, GIANTX strengthens its leadership at the intersection of technology, artificial intelligence, and performance, paving the way for a new generation of smarter training in League of Legends —a title that averaged nearly 30 million active players in September 2025 alone.
The post The App You Need to Download if You’re Tired of Throwing in League of Legends appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Latest News
Winning Partnership: Apparat live on bwin in all-German content deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Developer of slots with a German accent integrates 43 games with German top operator
Apparat Gaming, the developer of slot games with a German accent, has added yet another big-name operator to its growing list of partners by entering into a partnership with bwin.
Under the agreement, 43 of Apparat Gaming’s unique slots are made available to players of the award-winning online casino brand bwin.
The operator, which belongs to the Entain Group, has now one of the largest Apparat portfolios on the German market online since November, with 43 of the currently 54 Apparat games eligible for approval under German regulations.
The timing for the partnership couldn’t be better, as bwin was one of the major brands sorely missing from Apparat’s customer list for the German market. The addition of Apparat slots to bwin’s gaming lobby will help position the operator in its fight for German market leadership.
Founded just five years ago, Apparat is one of the up-and-coming game developers in regulated markets due to its German approach to development, with a focus on quality, engineering and providing plenty of Augenweide (eye candy) with absolutely no sense of humour(!) to ensure a superior player experience across its games.
This includes titles such as Total Eclipse XXL, 5 Moon Wolf, Fishin’ the Biggest or Gates of Ishtar. The partnership will also include the missing as well as all of Apparat’s future slot releases like the next release, Piggy Balloons.
Martin Frindt, Chief Product Partnership at Apparat Gaming, said: “It’s great to see that bwin understands the language we speak, even though the casino team is made up of Austrians, and has opted to add our slots with a German accent to its game lobby.”
“We now just hope that the German regulator GGL will approve the remaining games as soon as possible.”
Wanja Richter, Director of Gaming North and Central Europe at Entain, added: “Providing players with access to the best content in the business is a major part of our success story to date, and to be able to offer German players slots that have been developed by Apparat Gaming and that truly capture the essence of Germany is a slam dunk for us.”
“We are happy to finally be working with Apparat and hope to get their upcoming games content approved as quickly as possible!”
The post Winning Partnership: Apparat live on bwin in all-German content deal appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Not Just Games. Experiences: Interview with Gabor, CPO at DreamPlay
The iGaming industry has evolved far beyond spinning reels and flashy win screens. Today, it’s a rapidly shifting space where player expectations define innovation. Creativity, data, and emotional design have become central to building not just games — but experiences.
We sat down with Gabor, Chief Product Officer at DreamPlay, to discuss what modern slot development really means, how ideas transform into products, and why the future belongs not to games that are simply entertaining — but to those that resonate.
What makes a slot competitive today — math, visuals, gameplay, or a combination of factors? And which matters most?
Gabor: A great game is like an orchestra: you need every instrument playing in harmony or the whole thing falls apart.
The math and design are the heart and soul of every game — without them, even the best art is just a pretty face. Today’s players also expect to be entertained: strong pacing, polished audiovisuals, and features that feel meaningful, not gimmicky.
I always say that one of the challenges of creating great slots is that you have to be able to tell a whole story just through a push of the button — making them feel exciting while being simple and smooth for the player, but this means a lot of complexity for the creator.
So the real magic happens when everything clicks together. The best slots feel effortless, but behind that effortlessness is a very deliberate balance of math, flow, visuals, and just the right level of innovation.”
When working on a new release, what helps you shape the product vision before development even begins?
Gabor: Ideas can come from anywhere – a family vacation, a conversation, a movie, a meme, pretty much anything you can think of.
Creativity thrives when everyone on the team can chip in with their own ideas – we actively encourage that.
But inspiration alone isn’t enough. Every game needs a clear purpose. Is it pushing boundaries? Refreshing a classic theme? Continuing a successful series? We always start by defining the ‘why.’
Then we let data and experience meet in the middle. When the numbers support the idea and our collective instincts say ‘yes, this will work,’ that’s when a concept becomes a vision worth building.”
Do you see potential for an even closer integration of video games and slots, or are they still two different markets?
Gabor:There’s definitely potential — and honestly, the two worlds have been borrowing from each other for years. iGaming has embraced progression systems, more complex storytelling, achievements… while video games picked up loot boxes and other elements from gambling.
They will never fully merge, because the motivations and regulations are different, but there is clearly much more overlap than 10–15 years ago when these two industries were completely different. Today’s players grew up with games that blend entertainment, challenge, psychology, and reward, and they
expect a different form of entertainment than previous generations.
So we’re moving from ‘old-school gambling’ toward ‘interactive entertainment with a gambling core.’ And that trend will only continue.
Is the industry truly ready for bold experimentation, or does it still prefer playing safe?
Gabor: This is where it gets interesting. The industry loves talking about innovation and bold ideas – but in reality, the audience is still quite conservative. Most players enjoy evolution, not revolution.
We’ve seen a few big hits like Megaways and crash games, but they didn’t throw the core DNA of gambling out the window. These mechanics are mainly focused on enhanced entertainment value and presentation.
So yes, there’s room to experiment, but true format-breaking innovations tend to become niche and usually struggle to gain wider traction. The sweet spot is pushing boundaries without losing the essence of why players show up in the first place.”
What was your first step in iGaming, and when did you realize this was your industry?
Gabor: My start was completely unplanned. I moved to Israel from Hungary at 26, didn’t speak Hebrew yet, and was looking for any English-speaking job. A friend worked at an online casino, said they were hiring, and I thought, ‘Perfect, something temporary to help me get settled, I will find a proper job once my Hebrew improves.”
I have never even tried finding a ‘proper job’ afterward. That ‘temporary’ role turned into a 15+ year career across multiple countries, teams, and roles across casino management and game production — and I’ve loved every minute of it.
This industry is fast, sometimes (often) chaotic, but full of brilliant people and challenges that keep you sharp. Even after all these years, I still wake up excited about what we’re building. It’s hard to imagine doing anything else at this point.”
Final Takeaway
The iGaming industry continues its transformation — not just technologically, but emotionally. As Gabor pointed out throughout our conversation, the future belongs not to those who release the most games, but to those who understand what players truly feel.
We’re seeing a shift toward more immersive, meaningful experiences — where design, psychology, and data work together to create lasting engagement.
And it’s leaders like Gabor — and companies like DreamPlay — who are moving the industry forward, proving that innovation isn’t just about features or mechanics… it’s about connection.
Dream Play’s most recent releases and upcoming products here:
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