The Indiana Gaming Commision (IGC) reported Wednesday that Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana had the highest earnings in the state for the third consecutive month, once again surpassing Horseshoe Casino in Hammond for revenue after paying successful bettors.
Hard Rock’s win from slot machines and table games totaled $32.4 million for the month, a 5.7% increase compared to its November win, and 9.25% more than Horseshoe’s December win of $29.7 million.
As reported by the IGC, Hard Rock attracted $45.9 million in table game wagers in December compared to $30.5 million at Horseshoe. Baccarat was the biggest table game at both the Gary and Hammond casinos. But Hard Rock ($26.4 million) more than doubled up Horseshoe ($11.1 million) in baccarat play, and led in baccarat win with $5.8 million for Hard Rock and $1.6 million for Horseshoe.
Hard Rock was also ahead in blackjack play in December, with $8.4 million compared to $7.7 million at Horseshoe. Blackjack wins in December were $1.8 million, compared to $1.7 million for Horseshoe.
Horseshoe was ahead of Hard Rock on slot machine play, with $226.7 million versus $224.8 million; and win, which accounted for $22.9 million versus $21.9 million in December. This is due to the fact that Horseshoe has 20% more slot machines than Hard Rock on its gaming floor.
As reported by NWI, Matt Schuffert, president of Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, said he was pleased the casino had its strongest month yet in December: “Our table games business continues to perform extremely well, led by our strong baccarat business. We added over 50 additional slot machines to our floor in December, with nearly 100 more classic games coming soon.”
Eric Ramsey, an analyst for PlayIndiana.com, explained: “2021 should be remembered as the year in which people fully embraced online sports betting, especially after a tumultuous 2020. As impressive as the year was, though, the market is not done growing.”
Schuffert anticipates Hard Rock will maintain its lead over Horseshoe in the new year by continuing to offer entertainment including upcoming live musical performances by The Jacksons, Papa Roach and Clink Black.
According to the IGC, Ameristar Casino in East Chicago saw slot machines and table games win of $18.9 million in December, up 6.9% compared to November, while December win of $11.7 milloin at Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City was down 8.1% on a monthly basis.
Data show Indiana citizens also continued betting on sports in December, with Indiana falling short of a fourth consecutive month record for sports wagering handle. The IGC reported Indiana citizens bet $463 million on sporting events last month. That was nearly equal to the all-time monthly high of $463.7 million set in November.
Football and basketball together accounted for nearly 60% of December’s sports wagers. Altogether, Indiana’s sportsbooks handled $3.8 billion in wagers last year, more than double Indiana’s 2020 sports wagering handle of $1.8 billion.
Ameristar Casino led the state for sports wagering handle last month, with $155.4, primarily through its DraftKings mobile sports wagering affiliate. Blue Chip ranked second with $121.1 million with FanDuel.
As for the state, records show Indiana in December collected $58 million in tax revenue from slot machine and table game play, and another $2.5 million from settled sports wagers.
