November 2018 doldrums at Northwest Indiana Region casinos

"Northwest Indiana continues a six-month trend of teetering up and down," Horseshoe Senior Vice President and General Manager Dan Nita said. "This happened to be a down month." 

Hammond Horseshoe's decline was 11.3 percent, to $29.8 million. Nita noted Horseshoe had had a strong 2017, with a significant jump in table-game play.

"We had a $6 million spike last year," he said. 

East Chicago's Ameristar continued a strong 2018 with a 7.5 percent jump in gaming "win" to $18.4 million, with revenue increases in both table games and slot machines. 

Blue Chip was up only 0.2 percent, to $12.2 million, but also posted gains in both table games and slots. It was the Michigan City casinos third monthly increase of the year, as it faces increased competition from Four Winds South Bend. 

Majestic Star's casinos in Gary were also near even, down less than $11,000 to $11.7 million.

Nita said Chicago-area casinos on the Illinois side of the state line were even as compared to a year ago.

The Region's results helped push the state to a 2.5 percent drop in win. Indiana's 13 gaming establishments took in $176.2 million in November. They paid the state $44 million in wagering taxes.

For the year through November, Northwest Indiana's casinos have brought in $856.4 million, 0.9 percent below the first 11 months of 2017. The state as a whole is down a similar amount, to $2.05 billion.