Four Winds casino has extended its reach for gamblers into the heart of Northwest Indiana riverboat country.
The tribal casino in New Buffalo, Mich., on Monday will begin shuttling people to and from a bus stop in Hammond, at Indianapolis Boulevard, just off of Interstate 94, at 10 a.m. The bus will leave the casino at 2 p.m. CST.
The Hammond stop and three others in Indiana were added to a shuttle line that began serving Chicago's south suburbs and Chinatown last month.
Other Indiana stops are in Mishawaka, South Bend and Elkhart.
"We're very excited about being able to cater to guests coming out of Indiana," Four Winds General Manager Matt Harkness said.
"This is an opportunity for us to offer a way for people unwilling or not able to drive to come here from Indiana," he said.
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi opened Four Winds Casino Resort in August, siting a land-based casino in the Northwest Indiana gambling market for the first time.
Revenue and attendance have dipped since then at nearby Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, which earlier this month said it would lay off 6 percent of its work force as a result.
The impact remains to be seen of Four Winds' shuttle stop at Indianapolis Boulevard and I-94, just miles from riverboat casinos in Hammond, Gary and East Chicago.
Horseshoe Casino in Hammond draws customers from Illinois and is "more of a high-stakes casino," said Ed Feigenbaum, whose Indiana Gaming Insight tracks the state's gambling industry.
"One would think Horseshoe would be the most insulated from the competition," he said.
It's possible the Hammond bus stop will prove less productive for Four Winds than the Illinois stops in Crestwood, Homewood and Countryside, as well as in Chinatown, Feigenbaum said.
"I would imagine that it would be a service or experiment that will not last particularly long," Feigenbaum said.
"One would assume they would be more successful in some of their south side stops than to literally target Hammond and go into Horseshoe's back yard," he said.