Merrick Vandiver
Indiana Gaming Commission & Statehouse Reporter, Michigan City, Indiana.
Beat
I cover the Indiana Gaming Commission and gambling legislation at the Statehouse. That means the monthly revenue reports, licence applications and transfers, disciplinary actions, and the fiscal notes attached to gambling bills. It is an unglamorous beat that produces the most reliable documents the state publishes about this industry, and reading them is most of the job.
What I do not do is predict how a bill will land, benchmark payout speeds as a specialism, or argue about slot mathematics. Where a question needs one of those, I say so rather than guess.
Why this site exists
Indiana licenses thirteen casinos and racinos, authorised online sports betting in 2019, and has never licensed an online casino. In 2026 it also prohibited online sweepstakes casinos. That gap is the subject. People in Indiana play at offshore sites regardless, and the useful thing a publication can do is describe accurately what those sites are, what protections do not apply, and how to judge one against another.
How I test
Every site in the ranking gets a funded account in my own name, a documented identity verification, at least one withdrawal timed from request to arrival, and a support enquiry with a specific question. Bonus terms are read in full and recorded with the date. The weighted criteria are published on how we rate.
Standards and corrections
This site earns affiliate commission and that is disclosed at the foot of every page. Commission does not set the running order. Bonus figures carry the date they were checked because these offers change without notice. If something here is wrong, tell me on the contact page and I will correct it and note the change.