Charlotte Stefanski|Muncie Star Press
ANDERSON, Ind.—Cheers erupted from tables at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing and Casino as guests won big.
The table games were nearly full, even at 4 p.m. on a Thursday. They had been consistently that way since the use of live dealers launched on Jan.1.
Lee Ann Smith had just gotten up from her slot machine, excited to try out the table games.
A Rushville resident, Smith drove more than an hour to try her luck at Hoosier Park. Since the games became live, she’s noticed a difference.
“People get into it. People enjoy a live dealer more than just the electronic part of it,” Smith said. “If you’re going to gamble on the tables, it should all be live.”
Starting out as a race track in 1994 and transitioning to a “racino” with the arrival of slot machinesin 2008, Hoosier Park was previously prevented from having live table games under Indiana state law.
That put it, and Indiana Grand Racing and Casino in Shelbyville, on unequal footing with the state’s other 13 casinos.
“For the last 10 years, we’ve really been trying to push that bill and trying to push for us to get tables,” said Todd Berendji, vice president of operations at Hoosier Park.
The push finally succeeded in 2019, whena new bill was passed inJuly thatallowedIndiana’s two racinos to incorporate live table games.
Now, Hoosier Park has 28 table games, including 16 blackjack tables, four roulette tables, two craps tables, and more.
Prior to the change, the floor looked similar, with some games even having dealers with minimal roles.
“We didn’t want to make it just a slots and a box type thing. We wanted it to look like a casino that is like all the others,” Berendji said. “So, that was the way in which we played it up. They (the dealers) couldn’t do anything other than putting cash in and TITOs (ticket in, ticket out) out for a guest.”
While the launch was less than two weeksago, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hoosier Park Trent McIntosh said there has been almost a25% increase in visits to the property already.
McIntosh said he believes the vast majority of table game players prefer a live table and live dealers over the electronic table games.
“I think the pros are that you have human interaction,” McIntosh said. “It creates new excitement in the whole property.”
“I think there’s also a trust factor. I think people have a distrust in electronics,” Berendji added. “I think live games gives them back that trust.”
In addition to bringing in more patrons, the switch to live table games hascreated a surge in employment, adding more than230 jobs.
Once the law was passed in July, Berendji and McIntosh needed to find 250 dealers, trained and ready to go, by Jan. 1.
With a 12-week dealer school program, both current employees and individuals from the community made up a majority of those trained.
“We’re in Anderson. We created new jobs and created an opportunity for people to get not only jobs, but well-paying jobs that are careers,” McIntosh said. “I think that’s been fairly impactful in Anderson and the surrounding communities.”
In addition to employment, the casino also has created additional game and tax revenue for the city, county and state, McIntosh said.
Compared to other Indiana casinos, Hoosier Park has a low number of table games; some others have more than100.
But for Berendji and McIntosh, the number at the Anderson casino can only go up from here.
“It just automatically screams we need more. Our customers are telling us they can’t get on games, especially during the weekends,” Berendji said. “It’s only been eight days, but we’ve already seen that we need to expand it at some point in time, whether it’s sooner or later.”
Currently, Hoosier Park’s floor space doesn’t allow for more games, which could mean a property expansion in the future, as executives work on larger plans.
“With the addition of table games, we are really the most complete entertainment complex in the state of Indiana,” McIntosh said. “We have slots, we have food, we have sports wagering (as of September) and horse racing as well. Really a complete product of fun entertainment.”
Charlotte Stefanski is a reporterat the Star Press. Contact herat 765-283-5543, cstefanski@muncie.gannett.com or follow her on twitter @CharStefanski.