Northwest Indiana casinos didn't ring up much good cheer in December.

Combined revenue for the five riverboats fell by 4 percent to $91 million, compared to $94.9 million a year earlier. December revenue was a 10.5 percent drop from November.

Total admissions for the month reached 994,531, an increase over the 955,443 gamblers who passed through turnstiles a year earlier but down nearly 10 percent from 1.1 million in November.

Horseshoe Casino in Hammond led the pack, ringing up $40.4 million for the month, a 4.7 percent increase over December 2007 but down from $46.5 million in November.

Ameristar, the former Resorts casino in East Chicago, took in $22.2 million, down slightly from $22.5 million a year earlier and a drop of nearly 7 percent from November.

Blue Chip in Michigan City, which will unveil its new hotel tower later this month, saw December revenue decline by 17 percent to $11.8 million from $14 million a year earlier.

Don Barden's two Majestic Star casinos in Gary took in a total $16.8 million for the month, a 14.7 percent drop from $19.6 million a year earlier and down 4.5 percent from November.