company nasdaq industry gaming and hospitality fate acquired successor pinnacle entertainment founded 1954 in jackpot nevada founder cactus pete piersanti defunct 2013 acquisition completed headquarters paradise nevada united states key people gordon kanofsky ceo larry a. hodges president & coo revenue 1.22 b fy 2009 1 operating income 104m fy 2009 1 net income 4.67 m fy 2009 1 total assets 2.21 b fy 2009 2 total equity 336m fy 2009 2 number of employees 7 100 3 website ameristar.com ameristar casino in kansas city ameristar casinos inc. was a casino operator based in paradise nevada . 4 it was acquired by pinnacle entertainment in 2013 . the company had eight properties in seven markets . contents 1 history 2 expansion 3 philanthropy 4 financial 5 casinos 6 references 7 external links history edit the roots of ameristar casinos date to 1954 when cactus pete piersanti opened cactus petes desert lodge on u.s. route 93 just south of the idaho border in elko county . the area would later become jackpot nevada . in 1956 piersanti and others incorporated the property as cactus petes inc. the corporation took over management of the neighboring horseshu club in 1964 . cactus petes came under the partial control of ray neilsen of twin falls idaho in 1967 . neilsen s construction company had built many of the structures at cactus pete s. neilsen s son craig assumed control of day to day operations upon the elder neilsen s death in 1971 . craig h. neilsen became sole owner in 1984 . a november 1985 automobile accident left craig h. neilsen a quadriplegic but he continued to lead the company and expanded it . neilsen was named best performing ceo by the american gaming association in 2002 and was inducted into the organization s hall of fame in 2005 . 5 craig h. neilsen remained chairman and ceo until his unexpected death on november 19 2006 . ray h. neilsen succeeded his father serving as co chairman with john boushy who also was promoted from president to ceo at the time of craig s death . 6 boushy resigned in june 2008 and was succeeded by gordon kanofsky who previously served as the company s executive vice president and now holds the dual role of ceo and vice chairman . ray h. was named chairman at the same time . 7 8 in august 2013 pinnacle entertainment bought ameristar for 869 million plus 1.9 billion in assumed debt . 9 the company had reportedly been on the sales block since craig neilsen s death . 10 expansion edit the ameristar resort casino spa opened october 2009 in black hawk colorado in 1992 the company made its first investment outside of jackpot by acquiring a vicksburg mississippi property known as delta pointe . this property was opened in 1994 as ameristar casino vicksburg . the company subsequently constructed an adjoining hotel and in 2008 completed a 100 million expansion of the facility . 11 ameristar opened the first of several riverboat casinos in council bluffs iowa in 1996 . in 1998 the company opened the reserve hotel casino in henderson nevada . 12 the company was renamed ameristar casinos inc. and went public in 1993 on the nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol asca . company headquarters was moved from twin falls to las vegas in 1996 . in 2000 ameristar purchased properties in kansas city missouri and st. charles missouri from station casinos inc. and in 2001 sold the reserve hotel and casino to station casinos which renamed it fiesta henderson . 13 in 2004 ameristar acquired the mountain high casino in black hawk colorado . in 2006 the ameristar brand debuted after an 80 million renovation and expansion project that included additional covered parking ; and announced details of its planned 33 story hotel and spa . ameristar officially opened its new casino resort spa complex october 2009 to become the first destination resort casino in colorado . the property s 230 million expansion included a 33 story luxury hotel and day spa an enclosed rooftop swimming pool and 15 000 square feet 1 400 m2 of meeting and event space . the 33 story hotel featuring 536 rooms and 64 suites became the tallest structure between salt lake city utah and denver . ameristar also completed the acquisition of the resorts east chicago casino in east chicago indiana from resorts international holdings in 2007 . it was rebranded ameristar casino hotel east chicago in june 2008 . an outdoor summer concert series promoted the rebranding and featured lionel richie smokey robinson and reba mcentire . 14 in 2010 ameristar announced plans to renovate all of ameristar east chicago s 280 superior guest rooms and 10 luxury suites ; and to add 100 rooms and a fitness center to ameristar kansas city s existing luxury hotel . the addition will complement the property s existing 184 rooms and hotel lobby which were extensively renovated in september 2006 . in massachusetts where casinos were legalized in november 2011 15 ameristar applied for the one gaming license allotted to western massachusetts proposing to build a 910 million hotel and casino . 16 it acquired a 41 acre site in east springfield a former westinghouse plant for 16 million . 17 in november 2012 however ameristar withdrew its proposal in the face of competing bids from mgm resorts international and penn national gaming 18 saying that city officials were more likely to endorse a downtown casino . 19 in march 2012 ameristar agreed to acquire creative casinos developer of the proposed mojito pointe casino resort in lake charles louisiana for 32.5 million . 20 ameristar planned to spend at least 500 million on the resort and to open it in mid 2014 . philanthropy edit following the death of craig h. neilsen his estate endowed the foundation in his name . ameristar regularly partners with the craig h. neilsen foundation to support the rehabilitation of individuals suffering from spinal cord injuries and disease . ray h. neilsen serves as chairman and co trustee with kanofsky . 21 in addition ameristar was one of the first companies to help fund research at the nevada cancer institute by making a 500 000 donation in 2004 . ameristar also sponsors an active workplace giving campaign known as ameristar cares . in 2012 the company and its employees raised almost 7 million for charitable organizations . 22 financial edit although the current economic recession has hurt the financial performance of casinos on the las vegas strip ameristar and other regional casino operators have fared better as customers opt for gaming and entertainment destinations closer to home . 23 24 ameristar s properties in kansas city and st. charles missouri and black hawk colorado benefitted from casino related regulatory reform approved by voters in 2008 09 . in missouri voters repealed the state s loss limit which had capped players purchases of table game chips and slot machine credits at 500 every two hours . in black hawk voters approved a measure that increased betting limits and operating hours and added the games of craps and roulette . 24 25 casinos edit ameristar s properties at the time it was acquired were 26 ameristar casino hotel council bluffs council bluffs iowa ameristar casino hotel east chicago east chicago indiana ameristar casino hotel vicksburg vicksburg mississippi ameristar casino hotel kansas city kansas city missouri ameristar casino resort spa black hawk black hawk colorado ameristar casino resort spa lake charles lake charles louisiana under construction ameristar casino resort spa st. charles st. charles missouri cactus petes resort casino jackpot nevada horseshu hotel and casino jackpot nevada references edit a b c ameristar casinos asca annual sec income statement filing via wikinvest . a b ameristar casinos asca annual sec balance sheet filing via wikinvest . company profile for ameristar casinos inc asca . retrieved 2008 10 21 . assessor parcel number inquiry search by location address results . clark county nevada . archived from the original on 26 june 2009 . retrieved 2009 06 23 . 1 2 porfolio.com profile 3 howard stutz august 14 2013 . pinnacle entertainment completes 2.8 billion buyout of ameristar casinos . las vegas review journal . retrieved 2013 08 14 . howard stutz december 21 2012 . las vegas based pinnacle entertainment to acquire rival ameristar casinos for 869 million . las vegas review journal . retrieved 2012 12 21 . http www.vicksburgpost.com articles 2008 05 25 news newsbus01.txt permanent dead link 4 5 6 dan ring november 22 2011 . massachusetts gov. deval patrick signs bill to establish up to 3 casinos 1 slot parlor . the republican . springfield ma . retrieved 2012 12 21 . thomas grillo october 23 2012 . ameristar places bet on springfield casino . boston business journal . retrieved 2012 12 21 . anthony fay january 25 2012 . casino co. closes on purchase of spfld site . wwlp tv . retrieved 2012 12 21 . mark arsenault november 30 2012 . ameristar drops springfield casino effort . boston globe . retrieved 2012 12 21 . dan ring december 4 2012 . ameristar casinos says springfield mayor domenic sarno made false accusation about company . the republican . springfield ma . retrieved 2012 12 21 . howard stutz 14 march 2012 . ameristar casinos acquires hotel casino project in lake charles la . . las vegas review journal . retrieved 14 march 2012 . 7 8 seetharaman deepa 2009 04 24 . update 2 pinnacle entertainment posts profit on cost cuts . reuters . a b 9 permanent dead link stock of ameristar casinos climbs after thumbs up from voters . denver post . 2008 11 06 . 10 external links edit ameristar casinos retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ameristar casinos & oldid 743842254 categories ameristar casinoscompanies established in 1954gambling companies of the united stateshospitality companies of the united statescompanies based in paradise nevada1954 establishments in nevadacompanies formerly listed on nasdaqhidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from october 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