Moline · Illinois · Quad City International Airport
This is where you land — and where you fly to Las Vegas from
Let's be direct: Moline does not have a casino. It has the airport. Quad City International (MLI) sits on the Illinois side of the metro, and from the terminal you can be on a gaming floor in Rock Island in ten minutes, in Bettendorf or Davenport in about twenty — two states, three casinos, one rental car. That makes Moline the arrival city for the whole market. It also has something none of the other four have: Allegiant flies nonstop from here to Las Vegas twice a week. So this page covers both directions.
Part of the Vantage Corridor Casino Network
MLI · Moline, Illinois · four airlines, eleven destinations
MLI is a mid-sized regional airport with domestic service only, and it punches above its size for a metro of this population. Four airlines serve it and it connects to eleven airports. Chicago, Dallas–Fort Worth and Atlanta are the busiest routes, which means one connection gets you almost anywhere.
Chicago O'Hare · Dallas–Fort Worth · Charlotte
Chicago O'Hare · Denver
Atlanta
Las Vegas · Orlando–Sanford · Phoenix–Mesa · St. Petersburg–Clearwater · Punta Gorda
Allegiant routes run roughly twice weekly and are seasonal in places — check the schedule before you plan around one.
What this means if you're coming for the casinos. You do not need to fly into Chicago and drive three hours. MLI is fifteen minutes from two casino hotels and about twenty from the third, and the rental counters are in the terminal. For a two-night Quad Cities trip, flying into Moline and driving ten minutes beats O'Hare by a wide margin.
Measured from the MLI terminal
The Quad Cities are five towns — Moline, Rock Island and East Moline in Illinois, Bettendorf and Davenport in Iowa — split by the Mississippi. Moline sits in the middle of the Illinois side with the airport. Here's every casino in the metro, by how long it takes to get there from the gate.
| Casino | City | State | From MLI | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bally's Quad Cities | Rock Island | Illinois | ~10 minutes | Bally's Corporation |
| Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf | Bettendorf | Iowa | ~15 minutes, across the I-74 bridge | Caesars |
| Rhythm City Casino Resort | Davenport | Iowa | ~20 minutes | Elite Casino Resorts |
Rock Island, Illinois — closest to the airport
About 42,000 sq ft — the largest floor in the metro — with roughly 800 slots, 13 tables and 205 rooms, on Wicks Lake. Opened as Jumer's in December 2008, rebranded by Bally's in September 2021. Same state as the airport, so no jurisdiction change.
→ rockisland.casinoBettendorf, Iowa — the biggest hotel
A Caesars property with 509 rooms — the largest hotel in the state of Iowa. About 35,000 sq ft of gaming, 800+ slots, 14 tables, Caesars Rewards. Fifteen minutes over the I-74 bridge.
→ bettendorf.casinoDavenport, Iowa — the deepest tables
About 25 live table games, more than the other two combined, plus 1,000 slots, 106 rooms, a spa and three restaurants. Opened as a land-based resort in June 2016 off I-80.
→ davenport.casinoOne bridge changes your sports betting app. Moline and Rock Island are Illinois. Bettendorf and Davenport are Iowa. Separate regulators, separate helplines, separate licensing — an Illinois account will not take a bet across the river and an Iowa account won't work back here. Both states are fully legal for mobile betting; they just don't recognize each other.
Moline has airport hotels. The casino hotels are ten to twenty minutes out.
If the trip is about the casinos, skip the airport strip and stay at one. The biggest by a distance is Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf — 509 rooms, the largest hotel in the state of Iowa — about fifteen minutes from the terminal over the I-74 bridge. It's a Caesars Rewards property, so the stay earns tier credits that carry to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New Orleans and the rest of the network. Which matters more than usual here, given what leaves this airport twice a week.
See Isle Bettendorf Rates — 15 Min from MLI →Moline.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.
Allegiant · MLI to Las Vegas · roughly twice weekly, nonstop
It's a genuinely useful thing about a mid-sized Midwest airport: Allegiant runs a nonstop from Moline to Las Vegas about twice a week. No connection through Chicago or Denver, no four-hour layover. For Quad Cities players who want a real casino trip rather than a Tuesday night on a local floor, this is the shortest path there is — and it leaves from the same terminal you'd land at for the local casinos.
Schedules shift by season, so confirm the days before you build a trip around it.
Moline.Casino earns a commission if you book through this link, at no additional cost to you. We are not affiliated with Caesars Entertainment or Allegiant.
Full Las Vegas guide →A company town that built the Midwest
Deere & Company has its world headquarters in Moline, and the city is inseparable from it. The John Deere Pavilion downtown opened in 1997 on the site of the former John Deere Plow Works — free to enter, full of equipment you can climb on, and a lot more interesting than that description makes it sound. It is the single most-visited attraction in the Quad Cities.
A 12,000-seat arena downtown, renamed from the TaxSlayer Center on September 1, 2022 when Vibrant, a Moline-based financial services company, took the naming rights. It hosts concerts, the Quad City Storm hockey team, and the events that fill hotel rooms across the metro on weekends that have nothing to do with gambling.
The gathering space in downtown Moline on River Drive, with a summer concert series, restaurants and the Visit Quad Cities Destination Center. It's the walkable evening if you're staying near the airport and don't want to drive to a casino.
I-74 crosses the Mississippi at Moline on the bridge completed in 2021 — the twin white arches are the landmark of the modern Quad Cities. I-80 runs east–west north of the metro. Chicago is about two and a half hours east, Des Moines about two and a half hours west, and Rock Island is ten minutes down the road.
The full metro guide: all three casinos, both states
→ quadcities.casinoBally's Quad Cities, ten minutes from the terminal
→ rockisland.casinoIsle Casino Hotel and Iowa's largest hotel
→ bettendorf.casinoRhythm City and the deepest tables in the metro
→ davenport.casinoWhere the nonstop goes
→ bestinlasvegas.casinoAll 23 Iowa casinos across the river
→ bestiniowa.casinoThis 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.
1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537)
Or text ILGAMB to 833234
24/7 — free and confidential
areyoureallywinning.comYou must be 21 or older to gamble in Illinois and Iowa. Moline.Casino is an independent guide and is not affiliated with Caesars Entertainment, Allegiant, Quad City International Airport, the Illinois Gaming Board, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, or any casino property. Flight schedules, drive times and property details change — verify before you travel.