Two central Indiana racinos have added table games to their gaming offering thanks to the May 8, 2019, passage of a controversial bill allowing lucrative casino industry changes.

On New Year’s Day, Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing and Casino in Anderson opened 28 table games, while on the same day some 42 miles south in Shelbyville, Indiana Grand Racing and Casino celebrated the opening of 43 table games.

According to the Associated Press via WTHR…

Officials of each of the racinos located near the Midwestern state‘s capital have been pushing for the change that added live dealer table games on Wednesday afternoon for quite some time. They expect that the additions will help to attract more gamblers as the two casinos have, since opening more than a decade ago, been limited to offering only electronic games.

Lucrative additions:

The additions include four roulette tables, two craps tables, two Three Card Poker tables, four Blazing Seven Blackjack tables, one double deck blackjack table and 13 blackjack tables featuring EZ Bust and Trilux bets, with double deck blackjack and hand-shuffle blackjack being the two high limit live games available at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing and Casino.

Meanwhile, at Indiana Grand Racing and Casino, where a ribbon cutting ceremony took place just before 12pm on January 1st, seven different types of live dealer table games are now on offer, including blackjack, roulette, craps, Blaze Roulette, baccarat, Mississippi stud and three card poker.

Commenting on the historic event, General Manager for Indiana Grand, Mike Rich, said…

“We are very excited to launch live table games today. This event has been a few years in the making and we extend a special thank you to all those involved in making this vision possible for us. We are now a full-blown casino and we are extremely proud of our team for all of their preparations and planning as we take the next step in providing more entertainment options for our guests at Indiana Grand,” as reported by the Shelby County Post.

The new table games also see the addition of several hundred new team members, according to the local newspaper.

Historic changes:

Prior to this, state law kept Indiana racinos from offering table games until July 1, 2020, however, on December 17 of 2019, requests from both horse race tracks to offer table games were formally approved by the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC).

The new games come after in May this year Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed House Bill 1015 legalizing land-based and online sportsbetting, which Caesars Entertainment Corporation wasted no time in capitalizing on following the September 1 premiere of a sportsbook inside its Indiana Grand facility. This was soon joined by the In.BetRivers.com sports wagering service from French Lick Casino Resort via a partnership with the Rush Street Interactive subsidiary of Rush Street Gaming before DraftKings got involved courtesy of a domain being run under a license held by Penn National Gaming Incorporated’s Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago.