The Rising Star casino (formerly Grand Victoria) situated in the Tri-State area of Indiana has 40,000-square-feet of gambling space and 294 hotel rooms. The casino is the smallest casino in the area?and faces strong competition from the others in the region, especially the new casinos that opened in Ohio over the last two years.?The gambling revenue derived from all six casinos is around $55.5 million and the Rising Star casino contributes just over $3 million or around 5.5 percent of the total share. The company posted??a $12.4 million operating loss for 2014.
The casino might be forced to close its doors should the state senate change its gaming legislation, as the new amendments will make it extremely difficult for the Rising Star to compete and post a profit. An amendment to HB 1540 was supposed to be voted on Monday, but didn’t make it into the day’s actions. As proposed it would have delayed live dealer gaming for five years giving casinos like Rising Star a chance to modify their business plans to compete. If the amendment passes Rising Star would invest about $2 million in the property right away and add ferry service from Kentucky, effectively raising their market area ten-fold.