The Indiana Gaming Commission reported an overall 6.33% increase in wagering and supplemental tax to just over $45 million in its November monthly report.
The wagering tax accounted for nearly $40.7 mm, which was a 7.78% increase compared to October. The $2.93 mm increase more than offset the $212,799 month-on-month dip in sports betting tax revenue reported as Indiana’s 6.31% hold on a handle of $147.28 mm resulted in a lesser contribution compared to October’s 12.58% hold on $91.7 mm.
The supplemental tax dipped 1.33% to slightly less than $3.45 mm compared to October’s $3.49 mm.
Table game win totals down slightly
The Hoosier State’s 11 casinos reported a combined table win of $28.13 mm at 671 spots in November, which was 1.4% lower than October’s $28.53 mm at 653 spots. Ameristar Casino in East Chicago accounted for 14 of the 18 increased spots with nine blackjack tables, three poker tables, and two roulette tables, giving them 86 spots. Ameristar reported a 20.99% increase to $4.94 mm in table winnings while the drop improved 6.8% to $26.73 mm.
The other four new spots originated at Rising Star Casino in Rising Sun with three blackjack tables and one craps table, giving them 24 in total. While the table winnings improved 5.7% to $480,503 month over month, the drop slipped 3.24% to over $2.53 mm.
Blue Chip in Michigan City was the only casino to report a double-digit percentage increase in the drop, rising 11.35% to $7.28 mm compared to October’s $6.53 mm. It also had a 22.73% increase in winnings to $1.46 mm compared to $1.19 mm. The Tropicana in Evansville had the highest percentage increase in winnings, climbing 31.07% to $2.3 mm in contrast to October’s $1.76 mm.
Four casinos had overall drops surpassing $10 mm — Horseshoe Hammond ($47.06 mm), Ameristar, Horseshoe Southern ($17.97 mm), and Hollywood Lawrenceburg ($10.99 mm). In terms of winnings, while Hammond reported the highest amount at $8.41 mm, that figure was 23.57% lower than October’s reported winnings of just under $11 mm.
Slots/EDG winnings flat month-on-month
Indiana’s casinos and two racinos reported combined slots and EDG winnings of $150.05 mm, which was just $59,383 less than October’s despite having 422 fewer units and 17,431 total available. Even with the fewer units, the 13 entities reported a collective coin-in total of $1.57 billion, which was 1.05% higher than October’s 1.55 billion with 17,853 units available.
Horseshoe Southern in Elizabeth accounted for a majority of the fewer slots/EDG units compared to October, reporting 1,218 in November versus 1,556 the previous month. The overall winnings dipped 4.21% to $12.82 mm, but the coin-in totals increased 1.7% to $137.35 mm with a win rate of 9.33% compared to October’s 9.91%.
The introduction of the four new table games at Rising Star did not dissuade bettors from the slots as coin-in totals for its 824 units surged 14.09% to $36.87 mm in November. Winnings, however, dropped 12.87% to $2.92 mm as the win rate plummeted from October’s 10.21% to November’s 7.93%
Eight of the 11 casinos reported lower winnings totals, with French Lick (5.43%), Tropicana (3.46%), and Horseshoe Hammond (0.25%) paying out more in November than October. Six of the casinos reported winnings totals of $10 mm or more, with Tropicana narrowly clearing eight figures at $10.2 mm with a 10.07% win rate on 847 units.
Higher win rates, higher winnings at racinos
Indiana’s two racinos — Harrah’s Hoosier Park and Indiana Grand — reported a combined 3.99% increase in winnings payouts to $41.06 mm in November on 3,506 units compared to $39.49 mm on 3,604 units in October. The coin-in totals increased less than 1% to $430.76 mm versus October’s figures of $428.04 mm.
Hoosier Park had 56 fewer units available with 1,486, and its coin-in totals dipped 1.09% to $190.56 mm. A slight increase in the win rate to 9.37% resulted in $17.86 mm in payouts, an increase of 0.71%.
Indiana Grand had 42 fewer units accessible in November with 2,020, but the overall coin-in totals rose 2.05% to slightly less than $240.2 mm. The win rate on that figure was 9.66% with payouts of just under $23.2 mm, which was 6.67% higher than October’s figure of $21.75 mm.
Photo by Brian Spurlock / USA Today Sports
