Both Indiana and Michigan codes define casinos as places where gambling takes place. A riverboat is defined as an excursion boat that moves on its own. In Indiana, the riverboats can only be located in a "historic hotel district," in a county bordering along Lake Michigan or the Ohio River.
Indiana casinos are located (in alphabetical order) in the towns of Anderson, Belterra, East Chicago, Elizabeth, Evansville, French Lick, Gary, Hammond, Lawrenceburg, Michigan City, Rising Sun and Shelbyville. Michigan has casinos in Battle Creek, Baraga, Brimley, Christmas, Detroit, Harris, Hessel, Manistee, Manistique, Marquette, Mount Pleasant, New Buffalo, Petosky, Saint Ignace, Sault Saint Marie, Standish, Suttons Bay, Standish, Watersmeet and Williamsburg.
Commercial casinos are those owned by corporations, many of which are owned by the same companies that own casinos in Las Vegas. Companies such as Trump, Boyd and Harrah's had casinos in these states. Native American-owned casinos are those erected on tribal lands.
Riverboats aren't necessarily in rivers. The riverboat that was once in Michigan City (it is now a land-based structure) was built in a channel and never would have been able to navigate the narrow channel called Trail Creek. Racetrack casinos in Indiana--Anderson's Hoosier Park Racing & Casino and Shelbyville's Indiana Downs and Live! Casino--offer track gambling on horse races.
Gambling in Michigan is controlled by the Michigan Gaming Control Board, which is an agency within the state's Department of Treasury. The board controls the regulations, licensing and enforcement of the Michigan gambling statutes, according to the Michigan Code. The Indiana Gaming Commission is a similar group with the same powers, but is not a part of the Indiana Treasury Department.
Gambling is a billion dollar industry in each state and brings in millions of dollars in revenue for each state. According to the American Gambling Association, casino gambling brought in $2.7 billion in revenues for 2009. Of that, $878 million went to Indiana in taxes. Michigan saw $1.3 billion during the same year in revenue, and $320 million went to Michigan's tax coffers.
