The slot machines inside every Indiana casino are designed and operated so the casino always wins in the long run.
Gamblers may occasionally be handed a big stack of cash when the slot machine bonus game lands on a jackpot. But no matter how much a casino pays out to its players on any given day it will, over time, come out ahead.
Depending on which casino a person visits, however, a slot player may have a slightly better chance of leaving with more of their money when they're ready to go home.
Data contained in the Indiana Gaming Commission's (IGC) recently released 2024 annual report — which covers the July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, period — show exactly how much money slot players got back in each of the state's 13 commercial casinos, including the four gaming destinations in Northwest Indiana.
According to the report, Hoosiers wagered $20.1 billion at the state's 14,847 slot machines in 2024, compared to $20.5 billion in slot machine coin-in during the 2023 state budget year.
The statewide slot "win" last year, or the casinos' revenue after paying out successful bettors, totaled $1.99 billion, IGC data show.
Or, put another way, of the more than $20 billion dollars deposited into Indiana slot machines during the 2024 budget year, 90.2% of the money was returned to players and 9.8% was kept by the casinos — the same as 2023.
Of course the return-to-player percentage varies by casino based on how "tight" or "loose" the managers of each property believe their slot machines need to be to encourage additional play and return visits.
According to the IGC, the 2024 slot return to player percentages at Northwest Indiana casinos were, from highest to lowest: 91.1%, Blue Chip Casino, Michigan City; 90.4%, Ameristar Casino, East Chicago; 90.3%, Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, Gary; 90%, Horseshoe Casino, Hammond.
Blue Chip actually tied the French Lick Casino, located in southern Indiana, for the highest slot return to player in the entire state at 91.1%.
At the other end of the spectrum, players at Horseshoe Indianapolis, which has the same parent company — Caesars Entertainment — as Horseshoe Hammond, got back just 89.4% of the money they put into slot machines last year, according to the IGC.
The slot return to player rate at the remaining Indiana casinos was: 90.8% Hollywood Casino, Lawrenceburg; 90.1%, Belterra Casino, Florence; 90%, Bally's Casino, Evansville; 90%, Caesars Southern Indiana, Elizabeth; 90% Rising Star Casino, Rising Sun; 90% Terre Haute Casino; and 89.8%, Harrah's Hoosier Park, Anderson.
Those results are based on the outcome of every slot pull in every Indiana casino over the course of the 12-month period. Though the Terre Haute result only includes slot play from its April 5 opening to June 30.
Any single casino visit may produce a wildly different outcome — ranging from thousands of dollars in winnings, to walking away with a little less money, to losing everything.
At the same time, a slot player's chances of hanging on to at least some of their cash is better than any table game available to play in Indiana casinos.
According to the IGC, baccarat had the highest table game return to player last year at 82.6%, followed by a 79.8% return to player for blackjack, 77.4% for craps, 73.4% for roulette and 70.9% for house-banked poker games.
In comparison, the Hoosier Lottery returned as prize winnings just 65.4% of the near-record $1.7 billion Hoosiers spent last year on lottery tickets.
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