Did you know that the Quad Cities was the first in the U.S. to offer riverboat gaming? In 1991, the region launched a nationwide resurgence of gaming when the Diamond Lady Casino was the first casino to open in Bettendorf, Iowa. The President Casino opened about an hour later on the riverfront in Davenport, Iowa.
Come learn the history of the Betsy Ann, Mississippi Gulf Coast, Barrier Islands, and more when you book a Mississippi Riverboat Tour & Cruise in Biloxi today!
Today, three land-based casinos operate daily in the Quad Cities – Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf, Jumer’s Casino & Hotel in Rock Island, and Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport.
- The Ameristar Casino Riverboat Casino located on the Mississippi River in Vicksburg Mississippi Riverboat in Mission Bay, San Diego. Night view of an authentic, vintage, American riverboat with two chimneys resembling the steamboats used in the 1800s in.
- Mar 10, 2020 The Queen Marquette is a smaller riverboat casino operated by CQ Holdings and is located in Marquette, Iowa. Like most of the riverboats on this list, the Queen Marquette rests on the Mississippi River. Across the river, you’ll find the quaint midwestern town of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
The new William Hill Sports Book Area of the Isle Casino is an excellent place for fans to gather for sports wagering, and the Elite Sports Book at Rhythm City Casino's Draft Day Sports Lounge features a 360-degree screen and tv screens for customers to view odds or their preferred games. Sports wagering will be available on the Illinois side later this year.
Besides gaming, each property offers a variety of dining options, beautifully appointed hotel rooms, live entertainment options, and all are close to attractions, golf, and other entertainment amenities.
Start planning your trip to the QC today and check out the details below on our QC casinos.
A riverboat casino is a type of casino on a riverboat found in several states in the United States with frontage on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, or along the Gulf Coast. Several states authorized this type of casino in order to enable gambling but limit the areas where casinos could be constructed; it was a type of legal fiction as the riverboats were seldom if ever taken away from the dock.
History[edit]
Paddlewheel riverboats had long been used on the Mississippi River and its tributaries to transport passengers and freight. After railroads largely superseded them, in the 20th century, they were more frequently used for entertainment excursions, sometimes for several hours, than for passage among riverfront towns. They were often a way for people to escape the heat of the town, as well as to enjoy live music and dancing. Gambling was also common on the riverboats, in card games and via slot machines.
When riverboat casinos were first approved in the late 20th century by the states, which generally prohibited gaming on land, these casinos were required to be located on ships that could sail away from the dock. In some areas, gambling was allowed only when the ship was sailing, as in the traditional excursions. They were approved in states with frontage along the Mississippi and its tributaries, including Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri. Illinois also allowed limited riverboat casinos in the Chicago metropolitan area, which has a Mississippi River connection through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, while Northwest Indiana has three 'riverboat' casinos in harbors along Lake Michigan.
As an example, in 1994 Missouri voters approved amending the state constitution to allow 'games of chance' on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. By 1998, 'according to the state Gaming Commission, just three of the 16 operations comprising Missouri's $652-million riverboat gambling industry [were] clearly on the main river channel.' The state supreme court had ruled that boats had to be 'solely over and in contact with the surface' of the rivers.[1] Several casinos had been located on riverboats located in a moat or an area with water adjacent to a navigable waterway, leading them to be referred to as 'boats in moats.'[1] The state legislatures were unwilling to give up the revenues generated by gambling. Over time, they allowed gaming casinos to be built on stilts, though with the requirement they had to be over navigable water.
American Harmony
Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which destroyed most riverboat casinos and their associated facilities of hotels, restaurants, etc., in states along the Gulf Coast, several states changed their enabling legislation or amended constitutions. They permitted such casinos to be built on land within certain geographic limits from a navigable waterway. Most of Mississippi's Gulf Coast riverboat casinos have been rebuilt on beachfronts with solid foundation systems since the hurricane.
References[edit]
- ^ abSloca, Paul (18 January 1998). 'Missouri's 'Boats in Moats' Get That Sinking Feeling'. Associated Press. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
External links[edit]
- Partial listing of permanently moored casinos, DeJong and Lebet, Inc., Naval Architects and Marine Designers