Jeff Rehberger and the Fight to Keep His Gaming License

Jeff Rehberger Jr., the founder and CEO of Lucky Lincoln Gaming, kept his Illinois gaming license in February 2026 after settling an eight-year disciplinary case with the Illinois Gaming Board for $1.2 million. The settlement ended three separate complaints that had accused Rehberger and his company of offering illegal inducements to bars and restaurants, blurring the line between terminal operator and gambling establishment, and pressuring a former employee to recant testimony. An administrative law judge had already rejected nearly all of those allegations the previous spring.¹

Who Jeff Rehberger Is

Rehberger founded Lucky Lincoln Gaming in November 2013. The company places and services video gambling terminals at bars, restaurants, and lounges across Illinois, and by the mid-2020s it ran close to 1,500 terminals at about 200 locations with a staff of more than 75. That made it one of the five largest terminal operators in the state.² From November 2017 through February 2026, the stretch covered by the disciplinary case, Lucky Lincoln took in more than $204 million.¹

Illinois video gambling runs on a tiered license structure. Terminal operators like Lucky Lincoln hold one license; the establishments that host the machines hold another. The two sides are legally separate on purpose, to prevent what regulators call vertical integration. Terminal operators cannot own, manage, or control a licensed gambling establishment, and offering inducements such as loans or financing to secure a placement contract is a felony.³ Both prohibitions sat at the center of the board’s case against Rehberger.

What the Gaming Board Accused Him Of

The Illinois Gaming Board filed three disciplinary complaints against Lucky Lincoln, in 2017, 2019, and 2023, carrying a combined 21 counts under the Video Gaming Act, the Illinois Gambling Act, and board rules.

Alleged Inducements to Lock In Contracts

The board alleged that Lucky Lincoln sales agents offered cash payments of $5,000 to business owners, and that in one case an agent offered a restaurant owner both cash and a Rolex watch to win a placement agreement. The complaints also described Lucky Lincoln paying for the construction of video gambling rooms, signage, and restaurant additions, including a payment of more than $21,000 for a restaurant addition in a Chicago suburb in 2020.⁴

Regulators pointed to a 2017 email in which Rehberger allegedly told a client the IGB had passed a rule allowing the company to pay for gaming room construction, a claim the board called false. The complaints also described a 2018 meeting at which Rehberger told his sales team to “offer them anything to make it happen” when chasing new locations.⁴

The Lacey’s Place Problem

A second thread involved Lucky Lincoln’s relationship with Lacey’s Place, a chain of 39 video gambling lounges co-owned by Rehberger’s father, Jeff Rehberger Sr., and Christine Morgan through Highland Management Group.⁴ Lucky Lincoln served as the terminal operator at Lacey’s Place locations in Belleville and Highland.

The board alleged that Rehberger Jr. exerted “significant influence” over Highland Management Group, which, if true, would collapse the separation the law requires between operator and establishment. According to the complaints, he drafted franchise agreements for the Lacey’s Place chain, handled property leases, and gave directions to Highland Management Group employees. His stepmother, Letizia Lowe, worked for Lucky Lincoln while also connected to Highland Management Group. Despite naming Lacey’s Place in the complaints, the IGB did not pursue disciplinary action against the chain itself or against Jeff Rehberger Sr.¹

Pressure on a Former Sales Agent

The 2019 complaint accused Rehberger of trying to get a former sales agent, Fatmir “Fabio” Dikenoski, to recant statements he had given to IGB investigators. The board said Rehberger urged Dikenoski in September 2018 to sign a retraction affidavit, citing “thousands of dollars” Dikenoski was still owed on accounts he had brought in. When Dikenoski refused and blocked his number, Rehberger allegedly used a family member’s phone the next month to call and threaten legal action.⁴⁵

Why the Case Took Eight Years

Rehberger pushed back hard. Lucky Lincoln sued the board 20 days after being notified of the first disciplinary action, arguing that the IGB had violated the state’s Open Meetings Act by failing to move into closed session during a meeting. The company also challenged a limited license suspension in Cook County Circuit Court and won a temporary restraining order. Those parallel fights helped stretch the matter across most of a decade.⁶

What the Administrative Judge Found

Hearings on the complaints ran through 2024 and 2025. In May 2025, Administrative Law Judge John White issued a 146-page report siding with Lucky Lincoln on nearly every count. He found a single violation: the company had failed to give the IGB timely notice that it had hired a sales agent, a lapse that typically draws a fine of $5,000 to $10,000. On the rest, he wrote that “a preponderance of credible evidence does not show that [the company] committed any of the other violations.”¹⁶

The February 2026 Settlement

Instead of adopting or modifying White’s recommendations, the IGB chose to settle. In February 2026, the board approved an agreement under which Lucky Lincoln would pay $1.2 million and take on several compliance obligations: a formal compliance plan, an independent monitor for two years, and annual ethics and inducement training for all employees and agents.¹

In exchange, the IGB dismissed all three complaints and declared Lucky Lincoln’s license “active, in good standing and eligible for renewal, without restriction of any kind.” The settlement does not prevent the board from bringing future disciplinary actions.¹ IGB Administrator Marcus Fruchter said at the February meeting that the agreement “serves the public interest” and that both the industry and Lucky Lincoln benefit from “resolving these disputed matters through the settlement terms instead of engaging in protracted litigation.”⁷

Rehberger’s Other Businesses During the Case

While the gaming case was unresolved, Rehberger moved into cannabis. Through Fortunate Son Partners LLC, he competed for Illinois dispensary licenses, and the state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation deemed the company a qualified applicant, eligible to win up to 10 of 47 licenses in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin region and to be considered in 17 of 18 regions statewide.⁵

Cannabis applications required disclosure of regulatory issues at other businesses. Asked by WBEZ whether he had disclosed the pending IGB complaints, Rehberger said he could not recall. The IDFPR declined to release the applications, citing confidentiality. State Rep. La Shawn Ford criticized the inclusion of applicants with troubled regulatory histories, noting that state law permits denial of licenses to operators with a pattern of “unfair or illegal practices” in other ventures.⁵

Rehberger went on to open dispensaries under the Cloud9 Cannabis brand, with the first two launching in spring 2023 in Edwardsville and Champaign. He announced plans for five total locations, including sites in East Peoria, Oswego, and Schaumburg.⁸ Lucky Lincoln, Cloud9, and his other holdings in solar energy, cryptocurrency, real estate, and retail now sit under a Chicago-based private equity firm he founded called Vast.⁹

1
Yahoo News. Gambling Mogul With Metro East Ties Reaches Settlement to Keep State License
2
The Telegraph. Rehberger Has Plans for Highland, Edwardsville
3
Illinois General Assembly. Video Gaming Act (230 ILCS 40)
4
Belleville News-Democrat. Illinois Gaming Board Enters Settlement With Lucky Lincoln Gaming
5
WBEZ. Despite Problems With State, Businessman in Line for Lucrative Pot Licenses
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Pantagraph. Illinois Gaming Board Settles With Lucky Lincoln Gaming
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CDC Gaming Reports. Illinois Gambling Mogul With Metro East Ties Reaches Settlement to Keep State License
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The Intelligencer. Edwardsville’s First Recreational Cannabis Store
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East Central Reporter. New Eco-Friendly Travel Center Planned for St. Elmo by Vast