Illinois restaurant’s loss of video gaming license upheld by judge

Looks like the video gaming machines at a Cicero diner run by businessman Jeffrey Bertucci are going to stay off for now, as a Cook County judge on Wednesday rejected his efforts to halt an Illinois Gaming Board decision stripping him of his gambling license.

The board — the arm of state government responsible for regulating legalized gambling in Illinois — revoked Bertucci’s Firebird Enterprises, Inc., license on July 31, arguing that during the licensing process he hadn’t been forthcoming about the scope of illegal video gambling he was involved in years earlier, before video poker and similar games were legalized.

His machines were turned off following the revocation, and so was the spigot of revenue — which totaled more than $200,000 in “net terminal income” over the last two years alone.