Horseshoe Hammond
Encyclopedia
Horseshoe Casino Hammond, located approximately 20 minutes from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, is a 400000 square feet (37,161.2 m²) property containing gaming, entertainment, restaurants, bars and lounges.

History

Horseshoe Casino was originally opened as Empress Casino in 1996 as a 54000 square feet (5,016.8 m²), four-level gaming vessel. Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corporation was established in 1993 as a private holding company mostly owned by Jack Binion
Jack Binion
Jack Binion is an American casino operator. Jack is the son of casino magnate Benny Binion and worked for his father at Binion's Horseshoe, a casino and hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.- Biography :...

. In 1999, the corporation acquired Empress Casinos, including both the Hammond property and another in Joliet, Illinois
Joliet, Illinois
Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...

. 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 (re-branded as Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment may refer to:* Caesars Entertainment, Inc., the now defunct company that was Park Place Entertainment, Bally's, and formerly the gambling arm of Hilton Hotels, and purchased by Harrah's Entertainment...

 in 2010), who oversaw a 2 year construction of a new boat. The current casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

 facility, a gaming vessel designed by Friedmutter Group beginning in 2006, was opened on August 8, 2008. The vessel boasts two public floors, including a main gaming floor with special high limit, poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...

, and Asian gaming areas, 2 feature bars, and a VIP lounge, as well as a second floor with more gaming space, 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.

Horseshoe has consistently branded itself as the home of the highest limits. Benny Binion
Benny Binion
Lester Ben "Benny" Binion was a well-known American casino owner, mobster, poker enthusiast, and convicted felon.-Early history:...

, on opening the original Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, was the first to institute high table limits. The craps
Craps
Craps is a dice game in which players place wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other or a bank...

 table 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. This philosophy has continued through to the Horseshoe Casino locations throughout the country, where legendary stories including a man who walked into a Horseshoe with a briefcase of cash walked out with $1M.

In 2011, Horseshoe Casino is celebrating their 60th Anniversary through a promotion that speaks back to the history of the original Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas. The original Million Dollar Wall was one of the landmarks of the hotel on the old Vegas strip, and an updated version has been created to travel throughout all the current Horseshoe properties. The casinos will be giving out a minimum of $1M as part of the Million Dollar Summer celebration.

Over the years, Horseshoe Casino Hammond has won multiple awards as best in class gaming throughout the region, and in 2011 was named the only casino on Indiana’s Best Places to Work list. The casino has a staff of over 2,200 employees.

Gambling

Horseshoe Casino has over 350000 square feet (32,516.1 m²) of gaming space, and currently has over 3000 slot machines (including over 250 video poker
Video poker
Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a slot machine.-History:...

 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.

Le Cheng Asian gaming space is inspired by the romance of the Chinese Silk Road, the well-traveled passage between the Mediterranean Sea and China that dates to the first century BC. With exquisite detail and appropriate feng shui, the Asian Gaming Area welcomes players into their own resplendent niche of the casino. Spacious and elegant, it features an over-sized display of a water cascade on the beautiful etched art glass work within a classic rose wood-stained cabinet. Crafted in China, all the wood in the Asian Gaming and Foo Noodle Bar are made with rich rose wood color. Horseshoe is one of the only casinos in the country to feature Pai Gow
Pai Gow
Pai gow is a Chinese gambling game, played with a set of Chinese dominoes. Pai gow is played in unsanctioned casinos in most Chinese communities...

 Tiles tables.

Horseshoe regularly hosts poker tournaments, including the World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...

 Chicago Regional and Chicago Poker Classic. The WSOP regional is the largest regional in the United States.

Attractions

"The Venue" is Horseshoe Casino’s entertainment space which also functions as an area that can host any type of event. The 90000 square feet (8,361.3 m²) space was designed by Canadian designers Sceno Plus, who are best known for designing all of the Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...

 theaters in the United States as well as the Coliseum at Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, an unincorporated township in Clark County, Nevada, United States in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Caesars Palace is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp....

. 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
Andy Hui
Andy Hui Chi-On is a Hong Kong singer and film actor. Hui was the First Runner-up in the 5th Annual New Talent Singing Awards in 1986. Hui has appeared in about 25 films....

 and William So
William So
William So Wing Hong is a Hong Kong actor and a cantopop singer. He began his musical career by participating the New Talent Singing Awards in 1985 and won the competition as the first runner up. His performance at that event earned him a record contract with Capital Artists...

, and held several more grand opening concerts that same weekend, including Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...

, Smashing Pumpkins, Mo'Nique, and James Blunt
James Blunt
James Hillier Blount , better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005...

. 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.

Push features 360 degrees of excitement right in the center of the gaming floor. The bar is lined with high-paying video poker machines and clear views of high-definition TVs so one can catch every game and every highlight. At night, the bar features live DJs, Hookah
Hookah
A hookah A hookah(Gujarati હૂકાહ) A hookah(Gujarati હૂકાહ) (Hindustani: हुक़्क़ा (Devanagari, (Nastaleeq) huqqah) also known as a waterpipe or narghile, is a single or multi-stemmed (often glass-based) instrument for smoking in which the smoke is cooled by water. The tobacco smoked is referred to...

 nights, and a varying calendar of entertainment for casino visitors.

Vintage 51, located on the main gaming floor near the poker room, is a lavish wine, craft beer and cigar lounge. The name is a tribute to the founding date of the original Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas in 1951. The space is a well-appointed space full of dark woods and elegant touches for up to 75 guests. This venue features some of the finest wines and beers from around the world, including the namesake Private Label Vintage 51 Wine, a 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon that’s the product of Horseshoe Casino & Terlato Wines International, the foremost producer of luxury wines in the United States.
So whether you’re looking for a great space for your next wine-tasting or the perfect get-together for your co-workers, Vintage 51 creates a truly luxurious destination.

Restaurants

Jack Binon’s Steak House has been a Chicago favorite with its exquisite service and attention to detail, and recently doubled in size to accommodate the newly expanded gaming vessel. The Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...

 calls Jack Binion's Steak House "an upscale experience rivaling downtown's finest steakhouses." The reason for the enduring popularity of Jack Binion's Steak House is quite simple - magnificent cuts and house specialties served with impeccable presentation. Jack Binion's Steak House received the prestigious Wine Spectator Award of Excellence 13 years running and was voted Best Casino Fine Dining by Midwest Gaming and Travel readers.

Village Square Buffet was a staple of the Horseshoe Casino prior to the expansion project of 2008 as a small scale restaurant in the adjacent pavilion. The new Village Square Buffet, physically on the gaming vessel, is widely regarded as the finest buffet in the area. The new restaurant is double the size of the previous one and features several food stations including Italian, Latin, American Heritage, Seafood, Asian, Soups and Salads, and Desserts. The Village Square Buffet occasionally features specialty items by celebrity chefs who are appearing in The Venue such as Paula Deen
Paula Deen
Paula Deen American cook, cooking show host, restaurateur, author, actress and Emmy Award-winning television personality.Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates...

 and Guy Fieri
Guy Fieri
Guy Fieri is an American restaurateur, author, television personality, and game show host. He co-owns five restaurants in California and is widely known for his television series on the Food Network....

.

Foo Noodle Bar – To complement Le Cheng Asian gaming area, the Foo Noodle bar is adjacent and offers broth soup, congee, dim sum, bubble teas and more.

Benny’s Pub and Eatery, a 54 seat pub located in the adjacent pavilion, is a place where you can enjoy sports on multiple plasma screens while enjoying a unique menu featuring Benny's Inferno Burger, savory catfish sandwich, juicy chicken parmesan sandwich, spicy black and bleu ribeye steak sandwich and delicious chicken wings. Benny's features a different beer of the month along with specialty food pairings.

Other food outlets at Horseshoe include JB’s Café and Uno Express.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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