Northwest Indiana casinos see revenue slump in August

The gaming win, as reported by the Indiana Gaming Commission, was $76.4 million at Horseshoe, Ameristar, Majestic Star and Blue Chip casinos, down from $80.5 million in August 2015. The year-over-year decline is due in part to the calendar, casino operators say, with two fewer weekend days this August than last.

“I think we all expected it to be down year-over-year,” Ameristar East Chicago General Manager Matt Schuffert said.

Ameristar took in about $17.5 million, a drop of 11.8 percent from last August’s $19.9 million.

Horseshoe Hammond marketing Vice President Shannon McKellar said losing a Saturday and Sunday hurt this year’s returns, but noted Horseshoe’s year-over-year decline, of about 2.6 percent, was an improvement over what was happening earlier in the summer.

“It looks like we’re moving in the right direction,” she said. Horseshoe’s win in August was $33.1 million, down from $34 million last year.

Majestic Star’s Gary boats showed a 1.9 percent drop in gaming revenue, to $12.4 million from $12.6 million. Michigan City’s Blue Chip had a 3.9 percent drop, to $13.4 million from $14 million.

August marked the fourth consecutive down month for casinos collectively, after a strong start to the year. For the year through August, gaming win is $647.8 million, down nearly 2 percent from the $660.2 million of the first eight months of 2015.

“

“

Table games continue to be a growing business — the total gambled was $84.1 million in August, up more than 11 percent from last year. Casinos’ collective win at their tables was up only 3.2 percent, to $16.9 million.

”

“Our table business continues to grow,” Schuffert said. “We’re very happy with our volumes.”

Horseshoe benefited from a strong August in table games — both in terms of volume and the amount the casino won. Earlier in the summer, “our guests played pretty lucky,” McKellar said, “but in August, things are normalizing a little bit.”

Slot machine play continues to decline, though, with the casinos’ slot revenue dropping to $59.6 million on $618.3 million gambled in August. Those numbers compare to $64.1 million and $655.2 million in August 2015.

Admissions at the Northwest Indiana casinos were down nearly 10 percent year-over-year, to 810,177, something operators attributed to fewer weekend days.

In the greater Chicago area, including casinos in Illinois, gaming revenue grew just over 1 percent year-over-year, McKellar said.

Statewide, casinos took in $180.2 million at their table games and slot machines last month compared to $186.2 million in August 2015. The state’s casinos paid $34.6 million in admissions and wagering taxes.

.