Prediction Markets in Illinois: Legal Status

Status as of October 16, 2026

Two sets of Illinois documents bear on prediction markets. The first comes from the Illinois Gaming Board, which describes itself as the agency that oversees licensed casino gambling, video gaming and sports wagering in the state. Its cease-and-desist letters page lists letters to KalshiEX LLC d/b/a Kalshi, Crypto.com and Robinhood dated April 1, 2025, and to Polymarket dated January 27, 2026. The second is a group of three federal cases in Chicago before Judge Martha M. Pacold of the Northern District of Illinois. On October 2, 2026 she granted in part, and continued in part, the motions for a preliminary injunction against Illinois officials brought by Coinbase, the United States with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Kalshi.

Kalshi. Both sets of documents name it. The Board's letter of April 1, 2025 directs that "Kalshi and anyone affiliated with its operations" cease and desist, and Kalshi's own suit, KalshiEX LLC v. Raoul, No. 1:26-cv-07363, is one of the three cases the October 2 opinion decided in part. The fuller account is on the Kalshi legal status page.

Polymarket. The Board's letter of January 27, 2026 is addressed to "QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US" and directs it to cease and desist. No Illinois court case with a Polymarket company as a party was located as of October 16, 2026.

Neither set settles, on this page, whether anyone in Illinois may trade any contract. A letter states the Board's position. The October 2 opinion is a preliminary ruling, and the court gave the parties until October 29, 2026 to propose the injunction that follows from it. This page draws no conclusion about any venue.

What the filings and letters show

The Board's letters (2025 and 2026). Each letter, signed by the Board's Administrator, Marcus D. Fruchter, says the Board "has reason to believe" the recipient is engaging in unlicensed sports wagering in violation of the Sports Wagering Act, 230 ILCS 45, and the Criminal Code, 720 ILCS 5/28-1(a). The letters quote the Act's definition of sports wagering as "accepting wagers on sports events or portions of sporting events" by "any system or method of wagering," a definition that lists exchange wagering among its forms, and its rule that no person may engage in sports wagering in Illinois "unless licensed by the IGB." They state that the Board "has neither licensed nor authorized" the recipient, direct it to stop, and warn that failure to comply "may subject" it to civil or criminal penalties. The letters to Kalshi, Crypto.com and Robinhood are dated April 1, 2025; the letter to QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US is dated January 27, 2026. A letter is the Board's allegation, not a court's finding or a fine.

The federal cases (2025 and 2026). Coinbase Financial Markets, Inc. sued Attorney General Kwame Raoul and other officials on December 18, 2025 (Coinbase Financial Markets, Inc. v. Raoul, No. 1:25-cv-15406). The United States and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued the State of Illinois on April 2, 2026 (United States of America v. State of Illinois, No. 1:26-cv-03659), joined as intervenor plaintiffs by the Coalition for Fair Markets and North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc., d/b/a OG. KalshiEX LLC sued on June 23, 2026 (No. 1:26-cv-07363). The defendants include Governor JB Pritzker, Attorney General Raoul, and members and the Administrator of the Gaming Board.

The October 2, 2026 opinion. The court's memorandum opinion and order states that "Plaintiffs have demonstrated that Kalshi is a designated contract market, that its core sports-related contracts are 'swaps,' and that Illinois is likely attempting to exercise control over Kalshi's sale of those 'swaps.'" It adds: "Much of Illinois law likely conflicts with the Commodity Exchange Act and is accordingly likely preempted." The opinion notes that after argument Illinois's Fiscal Year 2027 budget amended 230 ILCS 45/25-90 to add a transaction fee on exchange wagers, and it found that further argument was needed on whether those fee provisions are preempted. The same day's minute entry ordered the parties to confer and file a proposed injunction by October 29, 2026.

After the opinion. On October 7, 2026, Illinois's Attorney General joined the brief of Ohio, 38 other states and the District of Columbia supporting New Jersey's Supreme Court petition in Flaherty v. KalshiEX, LLC, No. 26-299. On October 8 every party in the Chicago cases told the court jointly that briefing on the fees was not needed, because, in their words, "the Court's anticipated preliminary injunction will prevent Illinois officials from applying the Sports Wagering Act's licensing requirements to CFTC-registered entities." On October 9 the court wrote that the October 29 deadline "stands," adding that the parties may file sooner.

A related case sent back to state court. In Illinois Gambling Recovery LLC v. Kalshi Inc., No. 1:25-cv-11374, Judge Manish S. Shah granted the plaintiff's motion to remand on April 29, 2026 and returned the case to the Circuit Court of Cook County. Other Northern District cases that name Kalshi or Crypto.com were located but not read, and they are not described here.

What is not documented

The terms of the preliminary injunction are not stated on this page: the docket entries available through October 16, 2026 show no injunction entered, and the proposed injunction is due October 29, 2026. The text of the Sports Wagering Act is quoted here only as the Board's letters and the parties' joint filing quote it, not from the General Assembly's own copy of the statute. The remanded Cook County case was not read in the state court's files.

No Illinois court filing, Gaming Board letter or order, statute or venue notice naming any prediction-market venue other than Kalshi, Polymarket US, Crypto.com, Robinhood, Coinbase and OG was located as of October 16, 2026. This page therefore draws no conclusion about any other venue, and the search is repeated by October 30, 2026.

What happens next

By October 29, 2026, the parties in the three Chicago cases are to confer and file a proposed injunction consistent with the October 2 opinion and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65, under the court's minute entries of October 2 and October 9. When the court enters an injunction, its own words will be reported here.

At the Supreme Court, the response to New Jersey's petition in No. 26-299 is due November 9, 2026, after an extension granted on September 22, 2026. That case arose in New Jersey; it is listed here because Illinois's Attorney General signed a brief in it.

This page is next reviewed on October 30, 2026, and sooner after any filing, order or Gaming Board action in Illinois.

What this page does not do

This page is not legal advice. It reports what the Gaming Board's letters and the federal court filings say, each with its date, and draws no conclusion about whether any venue may operate in Illinois or whether anyone in Illinois may trade any contract. It does not predict how any court will decide, and it does not address how prediction-market gains are taxed. A mistake on this page is corrected here, with the date of the change; to report one, use the contact page. How prices reach the site's market pages is set out on the about page.