ROCK ISLAND · ILLINOIS · QUAD CITIES

    The Illinois Side
    of the River.

    Bally's Quad Cities — and the most interesting town in the metro

    Rock Island holds the only casino on the Illinois half of the Quad Cities. Bally's Quad Cities Casino & Hotel sits on Wicks Lake with 205 rooms, about 800 slots and thirteen live tables — and it's the reason most visitors come. It shouldn't be the only one. Rock Island also has Arsenal Island, a 1921 dinner theatre that is one of just two still operating anywhere in America, a 213-acre historic site on the bluffs, and bald eagles below the lock and dam every winter. Two more casinos are fifteen minutes away across the river in Iowa. This page covers all of it.

    Part of the Vantage Corridor Casino Network — thenetwork.casino

    Bally's Quad Cities Casino & Hotel

    Bally's Corporation · 777 Bally Blvd, Rock Island, IL 61201

    The property opened on December 1, 2008 as Jumer's Casino & Hotel — a $151 million land-based casino, hotel and banquet center, and a genuine departure from the riverboats that defined Illinois gaming at the time. Bally's Corporation bought it and rebranded in September 2021, swapping in Bally Rewards and finishing the exterior work through 2022.

    It sits on Wicks Lake rather than directly on the Mississippi, which gives the lakeside rooms a quieter view than you'd expect from a casino hotel. At roughly 42,000 square feet the floor is the largest of the three Quad Cities casinos, even though the hotel is the middle one by room count.

    Operator

    Bally's Corporation

    Hotel

    205 rooms — Double Queen, Lakeside King, Junior Suites

    Gaming floor

    About 42,000 sq ft — the largest in the metro

    Slots

    About 800

    Table games

    13

    Loyalty

    Bally Rewards

    Table games

    Blackjack · Craps · Roulette · Three Card Poker · Mississippi Stud · Ultimate Texas Hold'em

    Formerly Jumer's, and locals still call it that. The Jumer's name goes back to a German-themed hotel brand that was a Quad Cities institution for decades. If you ask directions from someone who's lived here twenty years, expect to hear the old name. Same building, same lake, different sign.

    WHERE TO STAY IN THE QUAD CITIES

    Two casino hotels, fifteen minutes and one state line apart.

    Bally's Quad Cities has 205 rooms on Wicks Lake and is the obvious choice if you want to stay where you're playing on the Illinois side. If you want the bigger hotel, it's across the river: Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf has 509 rooms — the largest hotel in the state of Iowa — and it's about fifteen minutes from here. It's also a Caesars Rewards property, so a stay there earns tier credits that carry to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New Orleans and the rest of the Caesars network. For a Quad Cities weekend that includes more than one floor, that's usually the better base.

    See Isle Bettendorf Rates — 15 Min Across the River →

    RockIsland.Casino earns a commission if you book Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf through this link, at no additional cost to you. We are not affiliated with Caesars Entertainment or Bally's Corporation.

    Three Casinos, Two States, Fifteen Minutes

    Rock Island is the Illinois half of a five-city metro

    The Quad Cities are actually five — Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in Illinois, Bettendorf and Davenport in Iowa — with the Mississippi running between them. Three casinos serve the metro and you can reach all three from Rock Island inside about fifteen minutes.

    CasinoCityStateFrom Rock IslandOperator
    Bally's Quad CitiesRock IslandIllinoisOn siteBally's Corporation
    Isle Casino Hotel BettendorfBettendorfIowa~15 minutes across the riverCaesars
    Rhythm City Casino ResortDavenportIowa~15 minutes across the riverElite Casino Resorts

    Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf

    Bettendorf, Iowa

    A Caesars property with 509 rooms — the largest hotel in Iowa. About 35,000 sq ft of gaming, 800+ slots, 14 tables, and Caesars Rewards.

    → bettendorf.casino

    Rhythm City Casino Resort

    Davenport, Iowa

    About 32,000 sq ft with more than a thousand gaming positions and 17 live tables — the deepest table selection in the metro, including poker. Operated by Elite Casino Resorts, the Kehl family company that also runs Riverside Casino in Iowa and Walker's Bluff in southern Illinois.

    → quadcities.casino

    Your sports betting app stops at the river. Illinois and Iowa are separate licensing jurisdictions. An Illinois account will not take a bet in Bettendorf, and an Iowa account won't work back in Rock Island. Both states are fully legal for mobile sports betting — they just don't talk to each other. Check which side of the Mississippi you're on before you place it.

    One thing you'll notice crossing back into Illinois. Illinois runs roughly 49,000 video gaming terminals at about 9,000 licensed bars, restaurants and truck stops — the largest network of its kind in the world. Iowa has nothing like it. You will see machines in places you don't expect. They are not casinos: no tables, no poker room, no comps, no loyalty tier.

    What Else Is in Rock Island

    The best reason to stay on this side of the river

    Arsenal Island

    The Rock Island Arsenal sits on an island in the middle of the Mississippi and is still an active US Army manufacturing installation — the largest government-owned weapons arsenal in the country. The Mississippi River Visitor Center, run by the Army Corps of Engineers, has exhibits on river history and ecology and a view of the lock and dam. Barges lock through April to December.

    Bald eagles, January to March

    When the river ices over upstream, the open water below the lock and dam becomes a major feeding ground and the eagles arrive in numbers. It's one of the better winter wildlife viewings in the Midwest and it's free, ten minutes from the casino floor.

    Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse

    Opened in 1921 and one of only two dinner theatres still operating in the United States. The facade is early Art Deco with polychrome terracotta panels carrying Illinois and Native American motifs. It anchors The District, downtown Rock Island's arts and nightlife strip — live music, galleries, and plaza concerts in season.

    Black Hawk State Historic Site

    A 213-acre site on the bluffs above the Rock River with more than seven miles of trails through a designated nature preserve, plus the John Hauberg Museum of Native American Life. It marks the area associated with Black Hawk, the Sauk leader born in 1767 whose name the 1832 war carries.

    Illinois gaming rules

    • Minimum age is 21 for casino gaming and sports betting in Illinois
    • Regulated by the Illinois Gaming Board
    • Illinois has 17 licensed casinos statewide; Bally's Quad Cities is the westernmost
    • Sports betting legal since 2019; the in-person registration requirement was dropped in June 2022, so mobile signup works statewide
    • Illinois does not permit online casino gaming
    • Roughly 49,000 video gaming terminals operate at licensed bars and restaurants statewide — a separate framework from casino gaming

    Getting here and crossing over

    • I-74 crosses the Mississippi at Bettendorf and Moline; I-280 crosses west of Rock Island
    • Quad City International Airport (MLI) is in Moline, about fifteen minutes away
    • Chicago is roughly two and a half hours east on I-88 or I-80; Des Moines about three hours west
    • Bettendorf and Davenport are Iowa — different regulator, different helpline, different sports betting jurisdiction

    More in the Network

    QuadCities.Casino

    The full metro guide: all three casinos, both states, in one place

    → quadcities.casino

    Bettendorf.Casino

    Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf and Iowa's largest hotel, across the river

    → bettendorf.casino

    BestInIllinois.Casino

    All 17 licensed Illinois casinos statewide

    → bestinillinois.casino

    Illinois.Casino

    Six Illinois casino road trips, including Route 66

    → illinois.casino

    BestInIowa.Casino

    All 23 Iowa casinos across the river

    → bestiniowa.casino

    Midwest.Casino

    The full Midwest corridor in one guide

    → midwest.casino

    Play Responsibly

    This is a two-state market, so both helplines belong here. Illinois and Iowa each run free, confidential, around-the-clock programs, and both offer statewide voluntary self-exclusion covering every licensed property.

    ILLINOIS

    1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537)

    Or text ILGAMB to 833234

    24/7 — free and confidential

    areyoureallywinning.com

    IOWA

    1-800-BETS OFF (1-800-238-7633)

    24/7 — free and confidential

    yourlifeiowa.org

    Additional resources:

    • Illinois Gaming Board — igb.illinois.gov
    • Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission — irgc.iowa.gov
    • Voluntary self-exclusion is available statewide in both Illinois and Iowa

    You must be 21 or older to gamble in Illinois and Iowa. RockIsland.Casino is an independent guide and is not affiliated with Bally's Corporation, Caesars Entertainment, the Illinois Gaming Board, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, or any casino property. Room counts, floor details and drive times are approximate and subject to change — verify with the property before you book.