The Diamond Jo Casino is a gambling

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 ...

and entertainment complex located in the

Port of Dubuque The Port of Dubuque (also known as the Ice Harbor, 4th Street Peninsula, or the Riverfront) is the section of downtown Dubuque, Iowa that lies immediately adjacent to the Mississippi River. The area was among the first areas settled in what woul ...

, in Dubuque, Iowa. The casino is owned and operated by Las Vegas-based

Boyd Gaming Boyd Gaming Corporation is an American gaming and hospitality company based in Paradise, Nevada. The company continues to be run by founder Sam Boyd's family under the management of Sam's son, Bill Boyd (born 1931), who currently serves as the co ...

, which also owns the Diamond Jo Casino - Worth in

Northwood, Iowa Northwood is a city in Worth County, Iowa, United States, along the Shell Rock River. The population was 2,072 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Worth County. Northwood is part of the Mason City Micropolitan Statistical ...

. It is a member of the Iowa Gaming Association, and its license is held by the Dubuque Racing Association, which operates

Q Casino Q Casino (formerly Mystique and Dubuque Greyhound Park & Casino) is a casino located in Dubuque, Iowa. It also was a greyhound race track until racing ceased there on May 15, 2022. The facility is operated by the non-profit Dubuque Racing Associ ...

. Beginning operations on May 18, 1994, the Diamond Jo was a 3-level, , 1,500-passenger vessel in Dubuque's Ice Harbor. The boat was a dockside that did not cruise, the casino became land-based when its new facility opened December 11, 2008. The Diamond Jo Casino is located at 301 Bell Street, in the rapidly developing Port of Dubuque. The casino, along with the nearby

National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium is a museum located in Dubuque, Iowa, USA. The museum is a property of the Dubuque County Historical Society, which also operates the Mathias Ham Historic Site. The museum has two buildings on it ...

and other attractions, have helped to create a large and growing tourism market in Dubuque.

Riverboat casino

As a riverboat operation the Diamond Jo was the smaller of Dubuque's two casinos, with of gaming space. It has 777

slot Slot, the slot or Slots may refer to: People * Arne Slot (born 1978), Dutch footballer * Gerrie Slot (born 1954), Dutch cyclist * Hanke Bruins Slot (born 1977), Dutch politician * Tonny Bruins Slot (born 1947), Dutch association football coach wh ...

keno Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some va ...

, and

video poker Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a slot machine. History Video poker first became commercially viable when it became economical to combine a television-like moni ...

games, and 17 table games, including: Big Raise Hold 'em,

Blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...

Craps Craps is a dice game in which players bet on the outcomes of the roll of a pair of dice. Players can wager money against each other (playing "street craps") or against a bank ("casino craps"). Because it requires little equipment, "street c ...

, Four card poker,

Let It Ride Let or LET may refer to: Sports * Let serve, when the served object in certain racket sports hits the net and lands in the correct service court, such as; ** Let (badminton) ** Let (pickleball) ** Let (tennis) * Ladies European Tour, the ladie ...

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

Texas Hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, communit ...

, and Three card poker. The operation had 3 restaurants: the ''Diamond Deli'', ''HighSteaks Restaurant'', and ''Jo's Café''.

History

On April 1, 1991, the Dubuque Racing Association (DRA) and local businessman Robert Kehl opened

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

's first

riverboat casino 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 en ...

in Dubuque's Ice Harbor, the ''Casino Belle''. This boat's operation was short-lived, however, and relocated to

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

in 1993, following a change in ownership. Soon after, the DRA began to search for a new riverboat to operate under the gaming license already in place. The organization selected the Greater Dubuque Riverboat Entertainment Company L.C., and its boat, which was later named the ''Diamond Jo'', following a local naming contest. The name honors businessman Joseph "Diamond Jo" Reynolds, who owned a Dubuque shipping company, among other enterprises. The "first" Diamond Jo Casino began operations on May 18, 1994. After a year and a half, in October 1995, that boat was replaced with a larger, 1,500-passenger riverboat. In July 1999, Dubuque-based

Peninsula Gaming Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E) is a casino gaming company based in Los Angeles. It began operations in 1999, doing business through a subsidiary, Peninsula Gaming. Its holdings grew to five properties, until 2012, when Peninsula Gaming was ...

purchased the casino operation, and spent $1 million updating the riverboat. Peninsula Gaming continues to operate the casino. In 2006, Peninsula opened a second Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa, from Dubuque. Peninsula was acquired in November 2012 by

Expansion

In September 2006, Peninsula Gaming officials announced that the Diamond Jo would begin a major expansion, during which it would become a land-based casino. The $75 million project, set to open in November 2008, will include 1,000 slot machines, 17 table games, and a poker room in a new casino. Also included in the project are a 36-lane

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

& entertainment center, 3

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearanc ...

, retail stores, and a 1,130-space, $23 million

parking ramp A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

. The casino's expanded operation is part of the "America's River Project: Phase II", which will also involve a major expansion of the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. The museum will take over the Diamond Jo's existing Portside Building, as well as the riverboat, and renovate them into an

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

-like theater and exhibit space.

Land-based casino complex

The land-based complex, which is a short distance away from the old casino property, opened on December 11, 2008. The new, two-story, $82 million facility has approximately 900 slot and video machines, 17 table games, and a separate high-stakes gaming area. The Diamond Jo complex features three sitdown restaurants (The Woodfire Grille, The Filament and Kitchen Buffet), two bars (the Tree Bar and The Game Sports Bar), a 30 lane bowling alley (Cherry Lanes) with scheduled leagues, and an entertainment theatre complex (The Mississippi Moon Bar).

Mississippi Moon Bar

The Mississippi Moon Bar was named after the refrain in the

Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

song " Black Water", which the casino uses in their current commercial campaign. The Doobie Brothers were also one of the first groups to perform at the bar.

References

External links

* {{Boyd Gaming Casinos in Iowa Buildings and structures in Dubuque, Iowa Economy of Dubuque, Iowa Tourist attractions in Dubuque, Iowa Boyd Gaming 2008 establishments in Iowa