Casino games at Hard Rock Northern Indiana

Hard Rock Casino in Northern Indiana boasts the most casino games of any Indiana casino, making it a prime destination for casino-goers throughout the region, including from the nearby Chicago area.

There are more real money slots at Hard Rock Northern Indiana than any other IN casino, and only Horseshoe Hammond, Horseshoe Indianapolis and Caesars Southern Indiana boast more table games. You can also play video poker and bet on sports at Hard Rock Northern Indiana. However, Indiana online casinos are still currently prohibited.

Slot machines

With more than 1,700 slot machines on the casino floor, Hard Rock Casino Indiana offers a wide variety of slots. You'll find plenty of traditional reel slots, video slots, plus lots of progressive slots, some of which feature six-figure jackpots. The stakes range starts at just a penny per spin and goes all the way up to $100.

Some of the popular slots at Hard Rock Northern Indiana include:

• 88 Fortunes Diamond
• 88 Fortunes Lucky Gong
• Buffalo Grand
• Dancing Drums Prosperity
• Dragon Link
• Fu Dai Lian Lian Boost Peacock
• Fu Dai Lian Lian Boost Tiger
• Grand Dragon
• Imperial 88 Peacock Beauty
• Jolly 8's
• Lightning Link
• Mighty Cash Double Up
• Reel Hot 7's Classic

There are also dozens of video poker machines mixed among the slots.

Table games

At present, 76 table games are operating in Hard Rock Northern Indiana. Blackjack tables and baccarat comprise more than half the table games in the casino, although you'll find several roulette and craps tables along with a wide selection of card-based games. Table games at the Hard Rock Northern Indiana include:

• Baccarat
• Blackjack (including Double Deck Blackjack, Spanish 21)
• Craps (and Craps No More)
• Crazy 4 Poker
• Criss Cross Poker
• DJ Wild
• I Luv Suits
• Let It Ride
• Mississippi Stud
• Pai Gow Poker
• Roulette
• Texas Hold'em Bonus
• Ultimate Texas Hold'em

Note the casino also has both a High-Limit Room and an Asian Games High-Limit Room. The High-Limit Room is where you'll find slots as high as $100 per spin as well as high-limit blackjack games with extra side bets.

Meanwhile, the Asian Games High-Limit Room offers 24 tables featuring both traditional and “EZ” baccarat. These also include some special side bets, like 5 Treasures and Blazing 7's. The table limits go from $25 to as high as $25,000 per hand.

Hard Rock Sportsbook

The Hard Rock Sportsbook is situated at the north end of the casino right next to the Hard Rock Cafe and close to the casino cage. The sportsbook has five windows open Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., and then Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. There are also 23 self-service betting kiosks available 24 hours a day.

You can bet on a variety of collegiate and professional sports, including:

• Auto racing
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Boxing
• Football
• Golf
• Hockey
• Motorsports
• Soccer
• UFC/MMA

The minimum bet is $5. Players can place straight bets (including moneylines, spreads and totals), parlays, teasers and futures at the sportsbook.

Additionally, the Hard Rock Indiana Sportsbook allows wagering on sports throughout Indiana. Powered by Scientific Games with Hard Rock Northern Indiana as its casino partner, the online sportsbook offers a full range of markets and bet types, including live betting.

Hard Rock Jackpot Casino

Hard Rock Northern Indiana additionally invites visitors to enjoy casino games online via the Hard Rock Jackpot Casino. Use the social casino on your desktop or laptop computer with a web browser. You can also download the Hard Rock Social Casino app for Apple or Android devices.

The Hard Rock Jackpot Casino features more than 150 casino games, including a number of slots, video poker, keno, bingo and table games like blackjack, roulette and baccarat. All of the games are free to play. While you cannot win cash directly by playing the games, you can link your Unity by Hard Rock account and become eligible to win real prizes in monthly online giveaways.

While registering an account at Hard Rock Jackpot Casino and linking it to your Unity account will yield the most benefits, you can try out the social casino as a guest, too. It is one of the better social casino sites we have reviewed at Play Indiana, with high-functioning graphics and sound and a terrific selection of games.

Amenities at Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana

There is no hotel on site at Hard Rock Northern Indiana, although plans are in the works to add a 200-room hotel in the near future. There are several hotels nearby, many located within a few miles of the property.

As you might expect at a Hard Rock casino, there's no shortage of rock-related memorabilia on display associated with various acts—from Elvis Presley to Billie Eilish. Located in Gary, Hard Rock Northern Indiana stands in close proximity to the birthplace of The Jackson 5, so the memorabilia on display includes several Jackson 5 items including a guitar, costumes and the red jacket Michael Jackson wore in the “Beat It” video.

Dining options at the casino include the following:

• Council Oak Steaks & Seafood — fine dining with an award-winning wine selection
• YOUYU Noodle Bar — fresh noodle dishes and other Asian fare
• Fresh Harvest — all-you-can-eat buffet with a variety of dishes and desserts
• Constant Grind — gourmet coffee and pastries plus specialty sandwiches
• Hard Rock Cafe — the classic Hard Rock restaurant with burgers, stakes, salads and the famous Jackson's Chicken Sandwich

As far as nightlife goes, the Council Oak Bar is good for cocktails and has a great wine list. But the Hard Rock Center Bar is the go-to spot, located right in the middle of the property and serving a large selection of beers, wines, cocktails and other light bites to go along with bar-top games.

On Friday and Saturday evenings, you'll find live music at both the Council Oak Bar and the Hard Rock Cafe. The property also features a 2,000-seat entertainment venue, Hard Rock Live, where musical acts and comedians regularly perform. Don't forget to stop by the Rock Shop to pick up Hard Rock gear and other souvenirs.

Unity by Hard Rock loyalty program

Unity by Hard Rock is the casino's loyalty program, designed to give regular visitors and casino game players various perks and rewards.

The tier-based program awards one Tier Credit for every dollar you spend at Hard Rock Northern Indiana. As you accumulate Tier Points, you move up in status as follows:

• Star — 0 to 3,999 Tier Credits (get discounts, presale access, gifts)
• Legend — 4,000 to 14,999 Tier Credits
• Icon — 15,000+ Tier Credits
• X — Invite only

Star members get discounts, presale access, gifts and more. Move up to Legend and add member-only hotel rates and special cafe benefits. Icon status adds more priority treatment like hotel-lounge access. Those who reach X earn even more personalized service as VIP members.

You also earn Unity Points for every dollar you spend either at the casino or elsewhere on the property. You can then redeem them at a rate of $1 for every 100 Unity Points.

The program offers other perks as well. New members receive three free play offers once they complete qualifying play. There are also Daily Free Play Rewards available to ongoing participants in the program. Members 55 and older, a.k.a. Classic Rockers, can get 50% off meals each Wednesday at Fresh Harvest.

The Unity by Hard Rock program is a global loyalty program, meaning the Tier Points and Unity Points you earn at any participating Hard Rock can be used at any other property. There are over 150 participating Hard Rock locations around the world, including over 100 in North America.

Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana history

Not long after Indiana legalized riverboat casinos, the Majestic Star Casino was among the first properties to open in 1996. The casino consisted of two different gaming boats that took turns sailing on Lake Michigan in the Buffington Harbor near Gary, Indiana. In 2002, the state allowed riverboat casinos to operate while remaining stationary, and a little later in 2007, the owners acquired Trump Casino, a second Gary casino located nearby, and renamed it Majestic Star II.

Spectacle Entertainment acquired the casinos in 2018. Then, in April 2019, Indiana lawmakers passed a gambling bill that among its provisions would allow the Majestic Star casinos to relocate from Lake Michigan to a land-based location. According to the terms of the legislation, Spectacle eventually surrendered one of the two casino licenses. In April 2021, both of the Majestic Star casinos closed.

Meanwhile, in January 2020 construction began on the new $300 million casino in Gary, a joint project by owner Spectacle Entertainment and Hard Rock International, which would operate the new casino. Three members of The Jackson 5—Marlon, Jackie and Tito—were on hand for the groundbreaking in their hometown of Gary. The 200,000-square-foot property took just over a year to complete and opened its doors on May 14, 2021.

In Nov. 2021, the entertainment venue Hard Rock Live hosted its first concert. In Oct. 2022, Hard Rock Northern Indiana completed a slot floor expansion that added 1,240 square feet of gaming space. That created room for 65 more slots, pushing the overall total to more than 1,700.

It took only a few months of operation for Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana to become the highest monthly revenue earner among the 12 commercial casinos in Indiana. It took over the top spot from Horseshoe Hammond.