Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago (formerly Showboat Mardi Gras Casino, Harrah's East Chicago, and Resorts East Chicago) is a riverboat casino in East Chicago, Indiana, docked at

Indiana Harbor Indiana Harbor may refer to: * Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, a harbor and artificial waterway in East Chicago, Indiana connecting Lake Michigan to the Grand Calumet River * Indiana Harbor (East Chicago), the section of East Chicago located east of ...

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

. It is owned by

Gaming and Leisure Properties Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in casino properties, based in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. It was formed in November 2013 as a corporate spin-off from Penn National Gaming. The company owns ...

and operated by

Penn Entertainment 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 ...

. The property features a 56,000-square-foot casino that offers 1,900 slot machines including reels, video reels and video poker; more than 40 table games; a high limit gaming room that is on land adjacent to the riverboat; and a 288-room hotel.

History

Showboat Mardi Gras Casino opened on April 18, 1997. In 1998,

Harrah's Entertainment Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven go ...

bought Showboat, Inc. and renamed the property as Harrah's East Chicago. Harrah's later sold it to Resorts International Holdings, and the casino's name was changed, along with the street name to 777 Resort Blvd (similar to the addresses used for some Harrah's branded casinos: 777 Harrah's Blvd). It was later sold in 2007 to

Ameristar Casinos Ameristar Casinos, Inc. was a casino operator based in Paradise, Nevada. It was acquired by Pinnacle Entertainment in 2013. The company had eight properties in seven markets. History The roots of Ameristar Casinos date to 1954 when "Cactus Pet ...

and changed its name to Ameristar before the September 2008 deadline. In August 2013, the property became part of Pinnacle Entertainment when that company acquired Ameristar Casinos. In April 2016, the property was sold to

along with almost all of Pinnacle's real estate assets, and leased back to Pinnacle. In October 2018,

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 ...

(now Penn Entertainment) acquired the property's operations as part of its acquisition of Pinnacle.

Vessel

The ''Win Star'' is the vessel that hosts the casino. The vessel uses a diesel reduction propulsion system and has a length of 332.2 feet. The boat's gross tons is 2803.0 and net tons measures 1906.0. It was built in 1997 by Atlantic Marine, Inc.

References

Casinos in Indiana Buildings and structures in Lake County, Indiana Ameristar casinos Tourist attractions in Lake County, Indiana Casino hotels East Chicago, Indiana 1997 establishments in Indiana Casinos completed in 1997 Hotel buildings completed in 1997 Riverboat casinos {{casino-stub