#Leslie Bluhm

None of the Chicago casino finalists rolled double sixes at community meetings staged by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, complicating the future of the gaming palace and entertainment district officials contend is key to the city's financial future. While city officials touted the meetings as a chance for Chicagoans to weigh in on the three finalists…

Three firms want to build a casino and resort in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office announced Friday. Rush Street Gaming, led by Chicago billionaire and Rivers Casino Des Plaines operator Neil Bluhm, submitted two separate bids - one for a casino and resort at McCormick Place and the other south of the Loop on vacant land between the South Loop…

Neil Bluhm, the longtime king of legalized gambling in Illinois, isn't much of a gambler. While he might hit the craps tables every few years in Las Vegas, his big bets, he says, are "when I try to do one of these deals." Bluhm means the bidding for Chicago's first casino. His Rush Street Gaming is widely considered by industry insiders to be the…