The Kansas City area’s four riverboat casinos posted a combined 1.5 % increase in December revenue and a 5.4 % increase in customers compared with the same month a year earlier. The Kansas City market reported combined December revenue of USD 58.6 million, up from USD 57.8 million in December 2007, according to statistics the Missouri Gaming Commission released Monday.

Missourians by a decisive margin Tuesday repealed the state’s USD 500 loss limit on riverboat gamblers. “Losing was not an option,” said Troy Stremming, an Ameristar executive and leader of the Yes on A committee, which raised and spent more than USD 15 million to pass Proposition A. With votes from 96 percent of the state’s precincts counted, the issue was winning 56 percent to 44 percent.

After 15 years along the Mississippi River as an icon of the East St. Louis waterfront and home to one of the earliest gambling establishments in the region, the Casino Queen riverboat departed Monday under new ownership. Branson-based Cedar Bay Entertainment, which specializes in family entertainment, bought the 19th-century, four-story side-wheeler for an undisclosed amount.

Down, sharply. That’s where the U.S. economic outlook and Kansas City’s riverboat gambling market headed in September. Local boats’ [[USD]] 54.5 million month was their smallest haul since early 2005. With a nationwide credit meltdown triggering layoffs and Wall Street panic, American consumers, including gamblers, are tightening their belts. “I can’t think of a time in my responsible adult life that I’ve seen economic conditions look more frightening than they look now,” said Tom Cook...

Kansas City, Missouri (AP) -- Missouri voters approved gambling in 1992, but it wasn't until 1994 that the first casino boats opened. Even then it wasn't smooth sailing. In February 1994, the state Supreme Court ruled that the Legislature didn't have the authority to approve games of chance on Missouri's rivers. In April of that year, voters rejected a measure that would have given that authority to lawmakers.

The Kansas City area’s four riverboat casinos recorded slightly higher combined revenue but a lower customer count for July compared with last year, the Missouri Gaming Commission said Monday. The Kansas City market recorded USD 62.1 million in July revenue, up less than 1 percent from USD 62 million last year. The market’s combined customer count was 926,870, down 2.3 percent from 947,976 last year.

Waterloo, Iowa - The Wild Rose Casino of Emmetsburg has never been a genuine riverboat, and state regulators decided Tuesday that it can quit pretending to be any type of water vessel. The Wild Rose opened last year under a provision of Iowa's riverboat gambling law that permitted casinos to be classified as "moored barges" if they were simply built over water instead of being vessels that could navigate on rivers or lakes.

By a vote of 7-0, the Metro Council voted Wednesday to file a lawsuit and use any legal means necessary to get information about the economic impact of Pinnacle Entertainment’s proposed riverboat casino project in south Baton Rouge. Pinnacle had released an economic impact study in May, but declined through its lawyers to release a revised study that it recently submitted to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

Clinton, Iowa (AP) - The Mississippi Belle II Casino will make its final voyage on Oct. 10, ending the riverboat gambling era in Iowa. Riverboat gaming took float in Iowa in 1991 on the Mississippi River. Boats would take guests out onto the river, where they would enjoy the view while having dinner and placing bets on casino games. Now, the focus is on glitzy slot machines and table games.

(AP) - Illinois gambling regulators signed off on plans Monday to move the Casino Rock Island to a new USD 150 million complex with a hotel, conference facilities and a third more gaming tables. The long-planned move from a riverboat in downtown Rock Island to an inland site near Interstate 280 and Illinois 92 was unanimously approved by the Illinois Gaming Board during a special meeting in Chicago.

Indianapolis (AP) - Indiana’s riverboat casinos have paid nearly USD 300,000 in fines over the last decade for letting in 90 underage gamblers despite rules that say patrons must be 21 years old to enter. The casino industry says it works to prevent those under 21 from getting onto riverboats, but the problem is becoming similar to the underage drinking issue for bars and liquor stores.