The Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) wants to revoke the state gaming license it granted to Jeffrey Bertucci in 2019 to operate video gaming terminals at Bertucci’s Steak N Egger diner in Cicero.
According to PlayIllinois, the IGB said Bertucci failed to disclose he testified in 2010 at the federal criminal trial of Chicago mobsters James Marcello and Casey Szaflarski, described by federal authorities as the mob’s “video poker king,” who both provided video gambling machines for the diner. Bertucci admitted he’d paid cash prizes to gamblers playing those devices, which was illegal at the time.
The IGB’s complaint stated, “Bertucci misrepresented the extent and duration of his involvement with and use of coin-operated amusement devices for illegal gambling purposes. Board Rule 310(a)(8) subjects a licensee to discipline for misrepresenting any information to the board. By engaging in the conduct described above, Bertucci’s company is subject to discipline.”
IGB spokeswoman Elizabeth Kaufman said that the agency “does not comment on pending, potential or actual investigations,” but she noted certain statutes and rules give the board the authority to discipline licensees, even to revoke their licenses.
The IGB claimed members became aware of Bertucci’s testimony at the 2010 federal trial this past May, although it had been reported by local news media. Regulators said they knew Bertucci was arrested in 2000 for operating a gambling venue after a server at an establishment he owned paid a customer for play on a coin-operated amusement device. But the license was granted because IGB members felt Bertucci was being honest.
Since their installation in 2019, the six gambling devices at the Steak N Egger diner have taken in more than $4.8 million in bets. The diner and the vending company split around $361,000 of that total. The state received more than $100,000 in taxes and the city of Cicero received $18,000.
