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Ill. casino opens after battling for gambling license

(via flickr/Jeff Kubina)

Reporting from Illinois Public Radio's Amanda Vinicky used in this report.

Illinois' 10th casino is open after years of legal and regulatory fights over its gambling license.

The Rivers Casino officially opened Monday in the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines. The license had long been dormant since originally being approved for the city of Rosemont in 1999.

Gov. Pat Quinn says he approves of the way the state's gaming board chose the Des Plaines location.

"Des Plaines decided as a community to share their revenues with ten of the poorest communities in Cook County, that was under that process," Quinn said. "Those are the kinds of things that I think are noteworthy and are worthy of solid inspection."

Quinn has been critical of a measure approved by legislators that would massively expand gambling in the state.

The measure specifies where five new casinos would go: Chicago, Danville, Rockford, Park City in Lake County and in a south Chicago suburb.

The measure still hasn't been sent to Quinn, and the governor has not said what action he'll take once he receives it.