There is a new proposal in Indiana and it’s set to introduce more slot machine gaming to the state. Since 2007 the state has debated over gambling and using it to bring in money. Now, legislators are pushing for more slot machines to be placed in bars, restaurants and fraternal organization lodges.  An old study by the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association showed that if slots and video poker are allowed, by putting 3,500 machines in the state there would be an increase of $300 million in tax-revenue dollars. That is a huge amount and would do a lot to quell the overwhelming budget problems the state is currently under.

Add to the mix the fact that there is a wide range of illegal operations when it comes to gambling going on. The US learned a difficult lesson with gambling and that is that Americans are going to do it—whether it is legal or not. Back in 2006 the UIGEA was introduced and the hope was to thwart online gambling. All the move did though was to push US residents to gamble at offshore casinos. In the end, it channeled billions of dollars out of the country.  US legislators should remember that well. If states are going to ban slot machines, most likely people will just start using underground and illegal machines to wager with. It isn’t as simple as taking the offending problem away anymore. People have many outlets to get what they want and do what they want to do.

Indiana should remember well what happened back in 2009. The state created an Indiana Excise Police, which was a group tasked with eliminating the gambling industry. Their job was to keep things under wraps but the state’s new organization failed to make good their task. In the end, illegal gambling continued to grow in the market and created an even bigger problem for policing organizations. There are intricate underground groups that manage gambling and bring it to the public. It is more difficult to uncover these groups due to their covert dealings. It will take time for Indiana to figure out a decent law, but one thing the state cannot do is ban gambling. It didn’t work in 2006 and it didn’t work in 2009. That means that future efforts most likely won’t work either.

In Indianapolis, Indiana executives of two Indian gambling sits are holding long and protracted meetings. The reason is that the two tribes are trying to maximize their revenue and increase the tax dollars flowing fro their establishments. Tom Dingman, General Manager of Evansville’s Casino Aztar, stated, “I think the state is really trying to figure out how it is going to remain competitive. What is good for the gaming industry as a whole is going to be good for the state.”

Dingman is reflecting what the state believes also. Indiana is hoping to bring more money into the coffer through expanded gambling. They are trying to also brainstorm ways for the two tribes to expand their current casinos without extending themselves financially too far.  Dingman added, “It is a careful balance we are striving to reach here…we want to expand and allow for better gaming and bigger promotions, but we have limits.  We have to stay within a specific budget or the entire plan is a failure for the tribal communities.”

Jim Landers, the committee’s nonpartisan Fiscal Analyst stated, “Tax revenue from Indiana’s 11 casinos and two hybrid ‘racinos’ — or horse tracks with casinos — likely will remain flat or perhaps even dip slightly over the next two years.” The committee is hoping to come up with ways to minimize that dip or at least mitigate it.

Between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009, Indiana collected about $819 million in gambling taxes. That marked a further slowdown in tax revenue growth from the industry as numbers were down from the previous year substantially. Without some serious reworking of the system, the state is in dire trouble financially. The deficits are huge and the money projected to be brought in needs to be stretched thin to cover all the expense the state has. If the revenues from slots parlors fall to too low a dip, this could be disastrous. The money is already earmarked and worked in to the 2010/2011 budget.  It is supposed to be spread over education, public works programs and development of government facilities. Without it, those things will all stagnate and further cutbacks will be necessary.

Horsemen recently began yet another petition to push slot-like gambling machines into race tracks.  Race tracks throughout Indiana are pining for slots due to their revenues suffering. Although the recession is technically “over”, businesses are still regrouping.  Race tracks throughout the country are trying to figure out ways to bring much-needed cash into their businesses. 

Once the recession began, most people stopped spending. This included gamblers who stayed out of race tracks. Though the recession is said to be over, unemployment is still high and people are still unaware of what the future will hold in terms of regaining normalcy in the economy. Many are holding out and not returning to their old ways. That includes going to race tracks for wagering. Race tracks are looking to develop slot machine parlors to bring up revenues. The term that they coined is “racino”– a racino is a combination of race track and slots casino.  Businesses are hoping the marriage between the two forms of gambling will reinvigorate the industry and in the past, slots have performed well.

Horsemen is hoping to aid in the movement of slots to race tracks. They recently made a presentation to legislators in the Indianapolis area in an effort to impress them with the gambling industry’s value to the state. After the presentation, however, there was little talk about using slot machines. In face, most of the discussions after were centered on Indiana’s horse racing industry and how it was suffering.   The discussion, that included the Interim Study Committee on Agriculture and Small Business Issues, was meant to start talks about slot machines but fell short. But the message from horse breeders, owners, trainers and the businesses they support was clear: without the revenue from slot machine gambling, Indiana’s horse racing industry won’t survive much longer.

Horse owner Jerry Walker stated, “We can support our industry without state support if we have alternative gaming.” The ‘alternative gaming’ Walker was referring to is code for electronic pull-tab machines, which are similar in style and play to slot machines. Walker added a pointed dialogue to legislators saying, “‘Why should the state support horse racing? Because it makes good economic sense.’

Chicago-area slots players have it good. Not only can they play in Illinois, but they can also play in Indiana. To most Chicagoans Indiana is just a short drive east and avid gamblers have no issue with packing up the car for a daytrip.

The flexibility Chicago-area slots players have is a great advantage to them. Casinos in both locations vary so it only adds to their potential gaming fun. There are some key differences for each location. First of all, in Illinois casinos in general have admission fees. The Grand Victoria is the only one without a charge to get in. There aren’t any casinos in this area that are open 24 hours a day and there is a statute that limits each property to 1,200 gaming stations—this includes slot machines, video poker and table games. Because they are limited like this, casinos have fewer slots in Illinois than in Indiana.

On the other hand, casinos in Indiana don’t have admission fees and have 24 hour gaming with unlimited gaming positions. Furthermore, most of the casinos are in the process of converting to 100 percent ticket-in/ticket-out slot technology. For example the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana is considered to be a “gambler’s casino.” It has a reputation of catering to high-rollers and amenities for all its guests.  If you are a dollar or five-dollar slots player, you’ll love this casino. There is a huge variety to choose from here.  You can also enjoy the restaurants and snack shops that offer quality food for a great value.

There are various advantages to each metropolitan area but the main difference in terms of slots gambling seems to be location. If you don’t want to drive far and you’re in Chicago, then there are many options for you to take part in. If you are in Chicago, but looking for a more formalized trip, then Indiana can bring you the “vacation” feel and the slots parlor activity.  If you’re in Indiana, then it may work best for you to take advantage of the no-admission slots parlors that offer a wide variety of gaming possibilities.

Many slots players in the Midwest are being faced with a dilemma: Illinois or Indiana. The question of the year for residents in the two states is where should they set up their gambling headquarters.  Many Chicago residents are heavy supporters of slots parlors in Indiana. It’s just a short drive over the border and a happy day-trip for avid players. On the other hand, they could just stay in the state of Illinois and enjoy what it has to offer in terms of slots play.  Though preference plays a big part in the decision, there are some differences in the two jurisdictions that can help slots players to decide where they want to go.

At this time, gaming legislation puts a limit of 1,200 gaming positions on Illinois casinos. Indiana is not under the same restriction. For this reason Indiana can offer a wider variety of games to players. Their slots parlors tend to be more well rounded and diverse. This includes not only diversity of themes, but also in wager amounts. This makes it simpler for players to find games to their liking.

In the Chicago area there are nine casinos that most residents frequent. There is Harrah’s Joliet, Hollywood Aurora, Empress Joliet, Horseshoe Hammond, Elgin Grand Victoria, Harrah’s East Chicago, Gary’s Trump, Majestic Star and the Blue Chip in Michigan City. There are a total of 4,476 slots in these locations. On the other hand, Indiana has Harrah’s East Chicago, Trump, Majestic Star and Blue Chip. Together they share a total of over 8,000 slots available to players. Another bold example of the gaming differences of the two states can be seen when looking at the nickel-slots. In Indiana there are over 2,300, whereas in Illinois there are just 747.

The slot machine war between Illinois and Indiana is evident, but due to legislation Indiana is winning out. The parameters are wider and more vast than then are for Illinois.  Unless it changes, Indiana may win out just based on circumstance. Illinois, like almost every other state, is in the midst of litigation over how to spell out gambling laws so hopefully some changes will make it a true contender in the market.

Kentucky and Ohio are two states looking into legalizing slot machines. Both states see how lucrative the games have been for other areas and are suffering from the same deficits in their budgets. Although they are hoping to move towards legalization and regulation of slot machines, there are some concerns the surrounding market is aware of.

Namely it is the state of Indiana that is worried. The state is heavily dependent on casino gambling due to its eleven casinos and two race tracks. The casinos are: Belterra Casino Resort, Ameristar Casino, Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino, Casino Aztar, French Lick Resort, the Majestic Star I and II, Horseshoe Casino Hammond, Hollywood Casino, Blue Chip Casino and Grand Victoria Casino. In terms of racing, there is Hoosier Park Racing and Indiana Downs.  Each one of these businesses brings in millions of dollars to the state in gambling-tax revenues. It’s estimated that about 60% of the overall gross receipts come from their collective slots parlors. When a state is as dependent on slots performance as Indiana, any threat is a difficult one to manage.

Take its two neighboring states for example. Kentucky and Ohio are in the midst of serious talks to legalize slot machines. It has already been projected that if they do, the state of Indiana could loose more than $200 million a year in slot machine revenue. According to the state’s Legislative Services Agency, these two states would drastically impact the amount of revenue that is brought in.  This is bad news for Indiana because projects that were to be fueled by slot machine revenue would have to be halted.  Due to the saturation of casinos in the market, that includes a wide variety of public works programs and educational funding. Indiana currently has 13 slot machine parlors across the state and the estimate regarding revenue is approximately $900 million a year. This revenue is comprised of both state and local taxes.

Indiana is a classic example of a state that possibly has taken the slot machine dependence issue too far. The money generated by slots is huge, but not always stable—especially now that the market is changing so quickly. Almost every state is looking for some kind of added revenue by using slots parlors. They need to be careful though to not build too many government-funded programs around them.