Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana shows no signs of giving up its position as the state's top earning casino nearly three years after its May 14, 2021, grand opening.
Data released Friday by the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) show Hard Rock last month tallied more "win," or revenue after paying successful bettors, than any of the 12 other commercial casinos in the Hoosier State for a 30th consecutive month.
Hard Rock tallied $39.7 million in April win — a 1.6% increase compared to its April 2023 win of $39.1 million — even though this year's calendar had one fewer April weekend.
The Gary gaming, dining and entertainment destination also accounted for more than 19% of the state’s $208.2 million in total casino win for the fourth month of 2024, according to the IGC.
Matt Schuffert, president of Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, said he was pleased with the April growth considering it came over four weekends instead of last year's five weekends.
"We continue to see strong growth on the slot side of our business — up 4%. We will continue to aggressively add new slot product based on customer demand and feedback," Schuffert said.
He also noted guests keep returning to Hard Rock to enjoy its robust entertainment schedule, including upcoming shows featuring Eve 6, Billy Idol, Jake Owen, Smokey Robinson and Dustin Lynch.
IGC data show Hard Rock’s state-leading slot machine play totaled $293.3 million in April, with a state-best win of $28.4 million; compared to April 2023 slot win of $27.3 million on $275.1 million in play.
In addition, the Gary casino led the state for April table game play, primarily baccarat, with $53.3 million, and was tops in table win at $11.4 million.
To put that in perspective, records show considerably more money was wagered at Hard Rock table games in April than the tables at the three other Northwest Indiana casinos combined ($37.9 million).
According to the IGC, the state’s former earnings leader, Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, last month ranked third in the state behind its Horseshoe Indianapolis sister property with $22.2 million in win — down 13.9% from its April 2023 win of $25.7 million.
Monthly win at Ameristar Casino in East Chicago also fell 13.7% to $14.8 million in April compared with $17.2 million for the same month in the prior year. Though Ameristar ($17.4 million) nearly matched Horseshoe ($17.8 million) for table game play last month.
Last month’s win at Blue Chip Casino, in Michigan City, totaled $10.4 million versus $11.7 million last April, a decrease of 10.7%, according to the IGC.
Across the state line, Bally's Chicago Casino reported April win of $12.2 million to the Illinois Gaming Board. In comparison, the Terre Haute Casino, which opened April 5 in a much smaller market in west-central Indiana, tallied $12.5 million in win during its partial first month of operations.
Data show the popularity of sports wagering on Hoosiers’ mobile devices and at sports books inside the state’s casinos dropped in April from its recent near-record highs.
The statewide online and retail sports wagering handle was $393.9 million last month, compared with $321.4 million in April 2023. The all-time monthly record of $513.7 million was set in November 2023.
In total, Indiana in April collected $61.5 million in tax revenue from slot machine and table game play, and $3.5 million from settled sports wagers, according to the IGC.
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