Argosy Gaming Company was an

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

based

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

operator.

History

The company through the political connections of its chairman William F. Cellini received the first gambling license in Illinois in modern times. It began operations in September 1991 with the opening of the Alton Belle Casino. Among the biggest initial investors was John Connors, brother of tennis champion

Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...

, Illinois attorney and Democratic power-broker L. Thomas Lakin, as well as other influential St. Louis area businessmen. Jimmy Connors would later become a substantial investor with both brothers maintaining a 19 percent share after it went public. It traded on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

under the

ticker symbol A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. In short, ticker symbols are arrangements of symbols or characters (generally Latin letters ...

"AGSY. The company toyed with bankruptcy in the late 1990s with John Connors personally declaring

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor. ...

. In November 2004,

Penn National Gaming Penn Entertainment, Inc., formerly Penn National Gaming, is an American entertainment company and operator of integrated entertainment, sports content, and casino gaming. It operates 43 properties in 20 states, online sports betting in 14 jurisd ...

acquired it for $2.2 billion in cash creating the third largest casino operator in the United States. The merger raised

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

concerns because Penn National, which already owned Casino Rouge, would gain a monopoly on casinos in Baton Rouge. In order to expedite approval for the merger from federal and state regulators, Penn National put the Argosy Baton Rouge up for sale.

Columbia Sussex Columbia Sussex is a privately owned hotel company based in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. The company, owned by the Yung family, owns and operates hotels in various parts of the United States. The current president and founder is William J. Yung III. ...

agreed to buy the property for $150 million. Penn National and Argosy completed their merger in October 2005.

Casinos

Argosy Casino Alton Argosy Casino Alton is a riverboat casino located in Alton, Illinois, in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Penn Entertainment. History The Argosy opened in 1991 as a small r ...

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend area in the Metro-East region of the ...

Belle of Baton Rouge The Belle of Baton Rouge is a riverboat casino and hotel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by CQ Holding. Facilities The casino boat is a , four-deck sternwheeler built by Avondale Shipyard. It ...

formerly known as Argosy Baton Rouge *

Argosy Casino Riverside Argosy Casino Riverside is a riverboat casino located on the Missouri River in Riverside, Missouri, Riverside, Missouri, just north of Kansas City. It is one of several casinos in the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is owned by Gaming and Leisur ...

Riverside, Missouri Riverside is a city in Platte County, Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the United States. The population was 2,937 at the 2010 census. History Riverside lies on the edge of the Missouri River and was formally ...

* Argosy Lawrenceburg in

Lawrenceburg, Indiana Lawrenceburg is a city in Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,042 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat and largest city of Dearborn County. Lawrenceburg is in southeast Indiana, on the Ohio River west of Cinci ...

, now carrying the Hollywood brand * Argosy Casino Sioux City in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

Argosy Empress Casino Argosy's Empress Casino (also known as Empress Casino Joliet) was a Riverboat casino and hotel located in Joliet, Illinois. Built in the 1990s by a group of investors headed by T.J. Lambrecht, Empress Casino become one of the first riverboat casin ...

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

; Destroyed by fire on March 20, 2009. Rebuilt as Hollywood Casino Joliet

References

External links

* Hospitality companies of the United States Gambling companies of the United States Alton, Illinois Companies based in Madison County, Illinois Defunct companies based in Illinois 1991 establishments in Illinois American companies established in 1991 American companies disestablished in 2005 {{casino-stub