Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana topped the charts for a second consecutive month as the highest earning casino in the Hoosier State.
Data released Friday by the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) show Hard Rock in November once again narrowly edged the perennial earnings leader, Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, for "win," or revenue after paying successful bettors.
Hard Rock's win from slot machines and table games totaled $30,850,687 for the month, while Horseshoe's monthly win was $30,687,628, a difference of $163,059, according to the IGC.
Matt Schuffert, president of Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana — which only opened to the public May 14 as a replacement for Gary's former Majestic Star casinos — said he's "very happy with our November results."
"We added close to 100 slot machines to our floor in November and look forward to adding over 100 more throughout December and January, which will include many new machines and some classic, high-demand machines," Schuffert said.
"Baccarat continues to lead our strong table games performance, and we will be making some slight additions to our table games offerings very soon."
According to the IGC, Hard Rock attracted $45 million in table game wagers in November compared to $31.8 million at Horseshoe.
Baccarat was the biggest table game at both the Gary and Hammond casinos. But Hard Rock ($26 million) more than doubled up Horseshoe ($12.4 million) in baccarat play, and led in baccarat win with $4.3 million for Hard Rock and $3 million for Horseshoe.
The two casinos saw nearly equal blackjack play of around $8 million each. But Horseshoe players got luckier at the blackjack tables last month, leaving the casino with $1.8 million in blackjack win compared to $2 million for Hard Rock.
IGC data show Horseshoe actually beat Hard Rock on slot machine play ($217.9 million versus $217.2 million) and win ($22.3 million versus $21.7 million) in November, due in part to Horseshoe having 26% more slot machines than Hard Rock on its gaming floor.
But on a per machine basis, Hard Rock outpaced Horseshoe by tallying $14,212 in monthly win from each slot machine compared to $11,220 each at Horseshoe.
Schuffert expects Hard Rock will maintain its lead over Horseshoe by continuing to offer superior entertainment, including a coming home to Gary performance by The Jacksons Feb. 18 at the 1,950-seat Hard Rock Live venue, free Hard Rock Cafe musical acts every Friday and Saturday night, as well as a headliner Hard Rock Cafe show on Dec 31.
"Hard Rock Northern Indiana will be the place to be on New Year's Eve," Schuffert said.
Hard Rock again topping Horseshoe wasn't the only surprise in the IGC's November revenue report — Indiana also bested its monthly sports wagering record for a third consecutive month.
According to the IGC, Hoosiers bet a whopping $463.7 million on sporting events last month, edging the prior record of $461.1 million just set in October.
Football and basketball accounted for nearly 60% of November sports wagers, followed by multi-sport and multi-game parlay wagers, records show.
Indiana's sports books have handled $3.4 billion in wagers so far this year, crossing the $3 billion wagering mark for the first time since sports betting was legalized in Indiana two years ago. Indiana's 2020 sports wagering handle totaled $1.8 billion.
"Obviously, 2020 was an unusual year, but Indiana’s year-over-year growth has been staggering so far," said Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which includes PlayIndiana.com.
"Historically, December and January have been the highest-volume months of the football season in the state. So, the best months are likely still ahead, too."
As usual, Ameristar Casino in East Chicago led the state for sports wagering handle in November with $174.8 million, primarily through its DraftKings mobile sports wagering affiliate.
Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City once again ranked second with $110.6 million in sports bets last month thanks in part to its affiliation with FanDuel.
Slot machine and table game win for November totaled $17.7 million at Ameristar and $10.8 million at Blue Chip, records show.
According to the IGC, last month's statewide sports wagering win was $47.7 million.
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