CHICAGO — Chicagoans may be able to place a bet at its first casino just after Labor Day.

Before any money is laid on the table or fed into slot machines, Bally’s must pass a practice gaming session.

With a sign now up, gaming regulators will inspect the casino and its operations on Sept. 5 with the practice gaming sessions happening over the next two days.

Beth Kaufman, with the Illinois Gaming Board, is hoping to have the casino at Medinah Temple ready this month. They are hoping to have about 750 slot machines and 50 table games.

But Ald. Brian Hopkins told WGN News that he remains skeptical it will all go according to plan.

“We don’t know how long temporary is going to last,” he said. “This is a concern. These kinds of things have a way of becoming permanent.”

Hopkins was among a handful of Chicago aldermen who voted against Bally’s proposal, championed by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, with projected tax revenues earmarked to help fund the city’s police and fire department pensions.

“They cobbled this whole deal together with duck tape and baling wire,” said Hopkins, who added that while he is all for funding city pensions, he worries that revenue projections are overly optimistic.

The temporary casino is expected to bring in about $55 million a year.

The $1.7 million permanent casino will be built in River West at the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center site that Nexstar previously owned and currently owns WGN-TV.

The permanent casino is expected to bring the city about $200 million a year in tax revenue once it is up and running — money that is earmarked to help fun police and fire pension funds.

This was all made possible when Gov. Pritzker signed a bill to expands gaming in 2019.

The permanent casino in River West is projected to be up and running in about three years.