Horseshoe Casino Hammond, located in Hammond, Indiana, is a property containing gaming, entertainment, restaurants, bars, and lounges.
History
Horseshoe Casino was originally opened as Empress Casino in 1996 as a, four-level gaming vessel. Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corporation was established in 1993 as a private holding company mostly owned by Jack Binion. In 1999, the corporation acquired Empress Casinos, including both the Hammond property and another Empress Casino in Joliet, Illinois. After selling off the Joliet property in 2001, the Hammond property was re-branded as Horseshoe Casino Hammond on May 4, 2001. In 2004, the corporation was sold to Harrah’s Entertainment, who oversaw a 2-year construction of a new boat. The current casino facility, a gaming vessel designed by Friedmutter Group beginning in 2006, was opened on August 8, 2008. In October 2017, ownership of the property was transferred to Vici Properties as part of a corporate spin-off, and it was leased back to Caesars Entertainment.
Facilities
The vessel has two public floors, including a main gaming floor with special high limit, poker, and Asian gaming areas, 2 feature bars, and a VIP lounge, as well as a second floor with a 3,400 capacity entertainment space, and an updated Village Square Buffet. The vessel is adjacent to the main pavilion with multiple food outlets including Jack Binion’s Steakhouse, as well as a gift shop and ballroom/meeting facilities. "The Venue" is Horseshoe Casino’s entertainment space which also functions as an area that can host any type of event. The space was designed by Canadian designers Sceno Plus, who are best known for designing all of the Cirque du Soleil theaters in the United States as well as the Coliseum at Caesars Palace. Though the standard setup is 2,500 theater-style telescopic seats, the versatility of the room allows those seats to be pulled back for a full general-admission room that can be set up for more contemporary rock shows, as well as function as a banquet and trade show facility. The Venue opened on the same day as the casino on Aug 8, 2008 with a midnight Asian show featuring Andy Hui and William So, and held several more grand opening concerts that same weekend, including Bette Midler, Alicia Keys, Smashing Pumpkins, Mo'Nique, and James Blunt. More than 200 shows were produced in The Venue in the first three years, and additional activities included The Great Midwest Smokeout, as well as the Chicago Circuit Championship of the World Series of Poker. The casino has a staff of over 2,200 employees.
Gambling
Horseshoe Casino has over of gaming space, and currently has over 3,000 slot machines and 100 gaming tables. The high limit gaming room features 125 machines in denominations up to $1,000 and is centered around an acrylic horseshoe statue, the second largest acrylic statue in the United States behind Tiffany’s at the time of the opening in 2008. Horseshoe is home to the largest poker room in the Midwest, featuring 34 tables at all limits, and including a private poker area, Benny’s Back Room, named for the founder of the original Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas, Benny Binion. Horseshoe has consistently branded itself as the home of the highest limits. Benny Binion, on opening the original Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas, was the first to institute high table limits. The crapstable limit of $500 was ten times higher than any other casino in Las Vegas, and eventually Binion raised the limit to $10,000 and even eliminated table limits at times. Horseshoe regularly hosts poker tournaments, including the World Series of Poker Chicago Circuit Event and Chicago Poker Classic. The WSOP Circuit Event is the largest in the United States.
