World's largest slot machine: gets a spin at Horseshoe Casino Hammond.

WHO DOESN'T LOVE superlatives? Indiana has the world's largest children's museum, the biggest concentration of orthopedic-products expertise, the largest ball of paint. We have the greatest spectacle in racing, the oldest living American, the world's tallest woman. Now comes the world's largest slot machine.

Horseshoe Casino Hammond this month unveiled the Wheel of Fortune Special Edition Super Spin machine, which is nothing like your average one-armed bandit. Up to nine people can play at a time, seated around a giant bonus wheel that allows them to participate together in the same bonus game. The maximum payout is $10,000.

"Being the market leader, Horseshoe tries to bring in the newest and most innovative products," says Joe Branchik, the casino's director of marketing. "It's a very competitive market."

But it's a good bet that the giant machine will help draw more garners into the Lake Michigan casino. How does Branchik know? Well ... this may be the world's largest slot machine, but it's not the only world's largest slot machine. It's not one-of-a-kind. "This machine is extremely popular in Vegas and Atlantic City," Branchik says.

Still, it's the only one in the Chicago market, and that's enough to create a buzz. "It's known as a participatory game. It's a new twist for the slot floor," he says. "It really anchors the slot area now."

When it comes to growth and promotion, the Horseshoe Casino Hammond leaves nothing to chance. It's a popular destination already--with 4 million visits in 2006, it was the No. 2 attraction in the entire Chicago area, second only to Navy Pier, according to Branchik. But next year it'll be ready to grow some more.

As part of a $485 million lakefront expansion project, the casino is bringing in a new vessel next summer. "The new vessel will allow us to provide luxurious amenities for our customers to enjoy," notes Rick Mazer, senior vice president and general manager. It will feature more than 100,000 square feet of gaming space and will replace Horseshoe's existing 54,000-square-foot, four-level Catamaran-style boat, originally built in 1996. Among other things, the number of slot machines will double from the current 2,000.

Bowing to the odd mandates of Indiana gaming law, the new facility will still technically be a boat, though once it's moored in Hammond it's not intended to sail anywhere because the law no longer requires Indiana's casino boats to actually leave the dock. It will arrive in six sections, with portions of it manufactured at southern Indiana's Corn Island Shipyard, along the Ohio River just south of Santa Claus.