WinStar World Casino (600,000 + square feet) Found in Thackerville, Oklahoma, about an hour south.
Indiana slot machine casino gambling consists of eleven commercial casinos, two pari-mutuel wagering racetracks, and one tribal casino.
Indiana does not offer payout limits but does provide annual and monthly return statistics for its non-tribal casinos.
This post continues my weekly State-By-State Slot Machine Casino Gambling Series, an online resource dedicated to guiding slot machine casino gambler to success. Now in its third year, each weekly post reviews slots gambling in a single U.S. state, territory, or federal district.
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The minimum legal gambling age in Indiana does not depend upon the gambling activity:
Indiana’s 1851 constitution banned lotteries, historically interpreted by courts to mean all gambling. In 1988, Indiana approved a constitutional amendment removing this ban. Within months, cities with economic difficulties had casino proposals.
In 2007, Indiana allowed horse tracks to have as many as 2,000 electronic gaming machines. Further, the state legislature approved land-based casinos in 2015. Also, in 2015, the state legislature approved a measure allowing riverboat casinos to move into a land-based casino facility if located on their current property.
The state of Indiana has a federally-recognized American Indian tribe. In 2015, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians successfully negotiated a tribal-state compact subsequently approved by the U.S. Department of Interior.
By the compact’s terms, the tribal casino could only have Class II bingo-style gaming machines. In early 2018, the tribe opened its first tribal casino.
*The purpose of this section is to inform the public of state gambling laws and how the laws might apply to various forms of gaming. It is not legal advice.
It is legal to own a slot machine privately in Indiana if it is 40 years old or older.
The Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) regulates gaming in Indiana. The IGC offers comprehensive annual reports on all aspects of legal gaming in Indiana. Indiana’s two other gaming commissions regulate the Hoosier Lottery and Indiana Horse Racing.
The Indiana Gaming Commission has a law enforcement arm called the Gaming Control Division. Its primary role is to investigate illegal gambling. Enforcement of illegal gambling at bars and taverns is by the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission.
There are eleven commercial casinos, two pari-mutuel racetracks with slot machines, and one American Indian tribal casino in Indiana.
The largest casino in Indiana is Horseshoe Casino Hammond with 2,123 gaming machines, 116 table games, and a 34-table poker room.
The second-largest casino is Indiana Grand Racing Casino with 2,020 gaming machines.
Indiana’s thirteen commercial casinos include its original ten riverboat casinos, an additional land-based casino, and two pari-mutuel wagering racetracks with slot machines. These non-tribal casinos are:
Indiana’s tribal casino is the Four Winds Casino South Bend located 150 miles north of Indianapolis directly east of Chicago on the border to Michigan. It offers 1,800 Class II competition-style gaming machines alongside live poker tables.
Poker has been interpreted in Indiana as a skill-based game and, therefore, just another Class II game. It is considered a competition-style game as players bet against each other and aren’t betting “against the house” or casino.
As an alternative to enjoying Indiana slot machine casino gambling, consider exploring casino options in a nearby state. Bordering Indiana is:
Each of the links above will take you to my blog for that neighboring U.S. state to Indiana.
Are you interested in sharing and learning with other slots enthusiasts in Indiana? If so, join our new Indiana slots community on Facebook. All you’ll need is a Facebook profile to join this closed Facebook Group freely.
There, you’ll be able to privately share your slots experiences as well as chat with players about slots gambling in Indiana. Join us!
Indiana has not set minimum or maximum theoretical payout return limits. Monthly and annual return statistics are available, although none are available from the tribal casino. The annual reports detail return statistics by slot machine denomination.
The IGC’s 2019 annual report has Electronic Gaming Device (EGD) COIN-IN on page 41. The next page has EGD Win. Divide WIN by COIN-IN, then subtract the result from 100% to calculate a player’s win percentage.
For your convenience, I have calculated the mid-2018 through mid-2019 player win percentages for each casino below. In addition to an annual report, the Indiana Gaming Commission also offers monthly revenue reports by the 11th of the following month.
Again, use COIN IN and WIN to calculate the player’s win percentage. Unlike the annual reports, these monthly reports do not contain return statistics by slot machine denomination.
These Annual and Monthly Player Win% are:
Further, the mid-2018 through mid-2019 statewide annual player’s win percentage is 90.52%. The monthly statewide player’s win% was slightly less at 90.45%.
The casino with the highest annual return was French Lick. The highest monthly return went to Rising Star. It’s worth mentioning that French Lick had the second-highest annual return and Rising Star the third-highest in the previous year.
The casino with the lowest annual return was, once again, this year, Tropicana Evansville. Its monthly return was the second-lowest while Majestic Star II had the lowest.
Indiana slot machine casino gambling consists of 10 riverboat casinos, one land-based casino, two pari-mutual racetracks with slot machines, and a tribal casino with Class II bingo-style gaming machines.
Indiana’s casinos don’t operate under theoretical payout limits. However, non-tribal casinos have annual return statistics by casino and slot machine denomination. Monthly return statistics are by the casino only.
In the last year, Horseshoe Casino Hotel Southern Indiana became Caesars Southern Indiana. Hoosier Park has become Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino.
Have fun, be safe, and make good choices!
By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl, LLC