Kit Wohl News

Floating Casino Follows Industry's Upscale Trend

As the casino riverboat industry celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, there's little resemblance between the first reproduction 1890s paddlewheelers that a decade ago plied the upper Mississippi River in Iowa and today's luxurious floating casino resort complexes with their plethora of amenities. Pinnacle Entertainment's $200 million Belterra Casino Resort in Belterra, Ind., which opened last Oct. 27, epitomizes this trend. The Belterra coincidentally and unintentionally also pays tribute to the industry's hallmark 10th anniversary - which is traditionally celebrated with a gift of aluminum or tin - through use of an innovative technique.