Four Winds Hartford casino in Van Buren County, a much smaller version of the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, opened Tuesday morning. With another casino in southwest Michigan opening, we looked into the impact they are having on Indiana gambling.
Our WSBT Fact Finder 22 team looked into a legislative study, which found competition from Four Winds in New Buffalo has taken about 30 percent — that's almost a third of the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City's gaming revenue.
While the impact from the new Hartford casino is expected to be minimal, competition from other large casinos near Battle Creek and Kalamazoo are expected to take up to another $15 million annually from Blue Chip.
The down economy is taking a toll on Indiana gambling overall, with 5 of the state's 13 gambling properties forced to file for bankruptcy.
