For the past eight years, Ameristar has uses Aristocrats Oasis system to support more than 11,000 gaming offerings at its casino properties throughout Colorado, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri and Nevada.

Oasis provides the casinos with accounting, marketing, messaging and player account managing tools.

“We carefully scrutinized every major system available, with the goal of finding the system that best suited our extensive marketing goals. We chose to stay with Aristocrat because we believe the Oasis 360 system is extremely powerful and Aristocrat’s future development path is aligned with our corporate initiatives,” said Sheleen Quish, CIO of Ameristar.

Aristocrat President Nick Khin responded, “This was an exceptionally challenging RFP process in which we were battling head-to-head against every other major supplier’s system. We are absolutely thrilled that Ameristar, with every choice available to it, chose to continue our eight-year partnership.”

The casino resort officially closed the doors of the $15 million venue after about three years of operation because of its poor financial performance.

“It was an expensive endeavor and an expensive, high-end nightclub with the programming and staffing,” said Jim Franke, Ameristar Senior Vice President and General Manager. “It wasn’t working.”

Ameristar opened the 175,500 square foot club in December of 2007 as part of a renovation project costing Ameristar $275 million.

The club that was originally opened seven days a week was cut back to weekends only and several of the clubs employees were made part-time, however that was not enough to boost profitability.

In a press release Ameristar said that the casino would continue to use the space to cater private events and convention business, and would attempt to find other positions for the club’s employees.

Ameristar recently reported a net loss of $24.89 million or a loss of $0.43 a share for the period ending June 30, 2010, but the board of directors voted this week to pay shareholders on record as of September 10, 2010 $0.105 per share on September 27, 2010.

The dividend payment just over ten cents, did not affect the market much with the stock closing yesterday’s trading session at $17.31.

However the news that the gaming company was considering strategic options that may include a sale of some or all of the company’s assets had Bank of America Merrill Lynch boost its ratings from Underperform to Neutral last week.

The likelihood of a sale lifted the stock almost 20% in the past week from a price of $14.50 on August 10, 2010.

Ameristar said that the Transaction Committee of its Board of Directors was “evaluating strategic alternatives to enhance stockholder value”.

Rumors surfaced yesterday that Ameristar had hired Lazard to contact potential bidders on the company. In the statement Ameristar said that along with Lazard, Bank of America Merrill Lynch would be the company’s financial advisors and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP would provide legal advice to the board in its evaluation of possible opportunities.

Ameristar also said that there is no guarantee that a sale is eminent and would not disclose the details of the process unless a transaction occurs.

The news has not negatively impacted the stock in fact shares of ASCA have gained 5.04% during today’s trading session.

A topic being discussed on several news sites is that the regional casino operator with operations spanning across Missouri, Colorado, Mississippi, Iowa, Indiana, and Northern Nevada have hired investment bank Lazard to contact potential bidders interested in a deal.

According to the reports an unnamed source with direct knowledge of the situation said that the sale process would begin in the fall.

A spokesperson for Ameristar said only that the company does not respond to market rumors. However, the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, who holds majority ownership in the company, said following the death of founder Craig Neilsen in 2006 that they would eventually look to sell off its holdings.

Ameristar recently reported a loss of $25.9 million for the second quarter of 2010 with outstanding debt of $1.63 billion.

Ameristar fell short of analysts’ expectations for the quarter with a net loss of $24.89 million or a loss of $0.43 a share. After impairment charges related to the East Chicago casino, adjusted earnings came in at $0.13 a share, under analysts’ predictions of $0.20 a share.

Net revenue for Ameristar dropped 5.1% to $293 million also falling short of analysts’ predictions of $306 million.

Ameristar contributed the decline to adverse affects from the Cline Avenue Bridge closure in late 2009. The bridge is a main arterial road to the riverboat operation and has made it inconvenient for patrons to visit the casino resulting in a decline of 25.6% in revenue for the property.

Ameristar is expected to report quarterly earnings during the morning hours of Wednesday August 4, with analysts predicting earnings of $0.20 a share on revenue of $306 million.

In the previous period, Ameristar casinos reported that profit had fallen by 64% due to soft consumer spending. For the quarter ending March 31, 2010, Ameristar reported net income of $10.7 million or $0.18 a share down from $29.9 million in the same period last year.

During this quarter, Ameristar has begun investing in the renovation and expansions of several hotels at their gaming properties and was also forced to layoff fifty employees from the East Chicago riverboat casino.

Despite the layoffs, Ameristar executives agreed to provide part time employees medical coverage and will pay half of the premiums for the employee and their dependants. The added cost is not expected to hit Ameristar’s books until the third quarter.

While the casino owner and operator may not be able to provide full time hours to all employees, after more than 18 months of research and focus groups, feedback from part time employees led the company to make the decision to offer medical coverage.

Beginning on September 1 Ameristar will pay half of the premiums for part time employees and their dependants that opt to sign up for a limited medical benefit plan offered by Cigna’s Fundamental Care.

Gordon R. Kanofsky, Ameristar’s Chief Executive Officer said “This is another way we can show team members we appreciate their commitment to delivering outstanding service to our guests.”

Ameristar has been heavily criticized by Union representatives for reducing hours which left many without the option for health care coverage. In Indiana the local union went as far as asking the Gaming Commission to investigate how many of its members had been forced to seek public assistance benefits when hours were cut.

Shares of Ameristar fell to a low of $13.44 with approximately 232,000 shares compared to the average volume of 345,000 shares.

Ameristar stock managed to climb back slightly to close the session down only $0.10 to $13.77 compared to the previous day’s closing price of $13.87; however the closing price represents a 19.7% decrease from the stocks 50 day moving average of $17.14.

Ameristar has shown calculated support at $14.41 and resistance at $15.25.

The sudden drop in stock prices follows Bank of America’s downgrade on June 12 to an Underperform rating, which plummeted shares down to a low of $14.75.

Although B of A downgraded shares of Ameristar from Neutral to Underperform and lowered its price target drastically from $20 per share down to $11, the stock is attempting to crawl its way back up.

Tuesday’s trading session saw shares rise as high as $14.94 before closing the market at $14.85.

Bank of America cited expectations that regional casino operators will post lower revenues for the second quarter, as the reason for the downgrade.

Ameristar Casinos will release its second quarter financials on August 4, 2010, during market hours.

For the first quarter of 2010, the gaming company reported a 64% decrease in profits and declared a quarterly cash dividend of only $0.105 per share.

Ameristar already uses a state of the art filtration system throughout its casinos, but the new Smoke Away system will also be installed at gaming tables.

Gordon R. Kanofsky, Ameristar’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the comfort of our team members and guests being of utmost importance, we are pleased to adopt this additional new technology as a corporate standard.”

Sebastian Font, President of Smoke Away Systems, said, “By being the first non-Native American casino operator in the world to adopt the Smoke Away System as its corporate standard, Ameristar will have an advantage over its competitors. Even more importantly, Ameristar is demonstrating its commitment to the comfort of its team members and guests.”

After five straight months of year over year decreases, Ameristar was Kansas City’s only gaming operation to report increases.

During the month of June, Ameristar’s customer base grew by 8% to 318,770 patrons during the month of June, up from 294,771 customers in the same period last year.

Revenue at the Kansas City Casino was also up 11% to $21.05 million from the $19.02 million in June of 2009.

Overall, casinos in the Kansas City area posted a combined 1.5% increase and a 6% combined increase statewide.

Last month Ameristar announced that they would be expanding the hotel portion of the riverboat operation to add 100 rooms.

“In the face of a continued struggling economy, the Cline Avenue bridge closure and increased competition in the market, we regrettably had to reduce the number of team members employed at Ameristar East Chicago,” Pete Savage, senior vice president and general manager said.

The main arterial road to the casino was closed last year and has greatly affected the number of patrons visiting the casino and revenue. For the first quarter of 2010, Ameristar reported that table game revenue at the property was down from $3 million in March of 2009 to $572,000 and slot revenue had also dropped from $22 million to $19 million.

The layoffs follow an attempt last month by Union representatives to ask the Indiana Gaming Commission to investigate the number of union workers that have lost benefits due to reduced hours. However the Gaming Commission found that Ameristar was in substantial compliance with all gaming regulations and approved the renewal of its gaming license for another year.

During a meeting with the commission on Thursday, union members spoke about the benefits that they have lost since the casino began reducing hours last year and casino management appeared to take exception to the union’s tactics.

“Our point is this is just the opposite of what was envisioned when riverboat gaming came to Lake County,” said Unite Here Local 1 representative Tim Barnes.

The union pointed out that approximately 60 of its members are now working part time.

“It’s our position that negotiations such as this should be held in a private setting and not in the press or a public meeting,” Ameristar spokesman Reggie Dotson said.

Dotson also pointed out that the Indiana Gaming Commission found Ameristar in substantial compliance with all gaming regulations and approved the renewal of its gaming license for another year.

The union is attempting to address the part time issue as it negotiates a new contract and Ameristar says they will continue to negotiate in good faith.

This week, investment firm KeyBanc downgraded the casino operator from Buy to Hold citing the slow economic recovery as the reason for caution.

“Prolonged sluggishness with consumer spending, competitiveness at many of the Company’s gaming venues with no near-term improvement in sight, and the risk of below-consensus 2Q10 EPS combine to cause us to take a more cautious posture toward the stock. In spite of a reasonable valuation and significant (approximately $2 per share) annual free cash flow, we are taking a wait-and-see approach to the shares.” a KeyBanc analysts said.

Ameristar Casinos is currently below its 50-day moving average of $18.35 and should find support at its 200-day moving average of $16.81.

Ameristar has been on a downward trend since June 15 when the stock peaked at $18.09; the stock closed trading today at $16.09 with a high of $16.54 during afternoon hours and has lost $0.38 in after-hours trading.

Ameristar will invest $14 million to expand the hotel portion of its Kansas City, Missouri riverboat casino to add an additional 100 hotel rooms and fitness center to the 184 hotel rooms that already profit from a strong occupancy rate.

According to Sean Bernard, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Ameristar Kansas City the property has led the market for nearly seven consecutive years and believes that with the Missouri Gaming Commission recently approving 24 hour gambling to begin later this summer, the property will benefit from the additional room.

The expansion project will utilize the existing infrastructure to connect to the new hotel on each floor and feature 80 rooms and 20 suites.

“Although we have a longstanding commitment to economic development in Kansas City, we have been careful in allocating our free cash flow and capital during the recession,” Ameristar Chief Executive Officer Gordon Kanofsky said. “We are moving forward with this hotel addition now because we believe it will produce an attractive return on our investment.”

Terhune previously held the role of Assistant General Manager/ Vice President of Finance at the St. Charles location and has been with Ameristar since November 2006.

“Monty’s diverse experience, collaborative leadership style and hands-on participation in daily operations make him the ideal individual to lead Council Bluffs,” said Ameristar Casinos Senior Vice President of Operations Michelle Shriver. “Monty will work closely with our Council Bluffs team to fulfill our pledge to deliver a highly satisfying guest experience, attract and retain talented team members and deliver solid financial performance. His promotion is a great example of Ameristar’s commitment to developing and promoting talented team members.”

According to Unite Here Local 1 organizer Susan Valentine approximately 30% of the casinos 200 union employees have been reduced to part time hours and are losing health insurance.

“With the uncertainty of the economy and the Cline Avenue bridge closure, we’ve had to handle a difficult business situation,” Ameristar spokesman Reggie Dotson said.

The casino and the union continue to negotiate contracts that expired on October 31, 2009. The union is fighting for those employees to be able to keep their insurance.

The expired contract was negotiated with the casinos previous owner, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc.

Dotson said that the casino respected the employee’s right to “express their views” when workers gathered in front of the riverboat operation on Friday and that they would continue to negotiate in good faith.

“We are actively pursuing an agreement that addresses the needs of our team members while making sure we are able to continue operating our business efficiently during these very difficult times,” Dotson said.

The company plans to refurbish the 15 story hotel structure by sprucing up the 280 guest rooms and 10 luxury suites from floor to ceiling.

“The newly renovated rooms will enhance the overall comfort of our guests and will add to our reputation as one of the premier hotel facilities in Northwest Indiana,” said Pete Savage, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Ameristar East Chicago.

Despite falling monthly revenues associated with the closure of the Cline Avenue Bridge the upgrade shows the casino remains committed to East Chicago and Northwest Indiana even during these tough economic times, said Ameristar Casinos Inc. CEO Gordon Kanofsky.

“This renovation was planned prior to the bridge closure as we are always investing capital dollars to maintain and improve the property,” he said.

Renovations will begin next month, with full construction beginning in September.

Ameristar has not indicated it is interested in obtaining the available license, however notes that the purpose of existing operators conducting the studies is to show the effects a new casino would have on existing operations.

“The key factor is you are not pulling away existing revenue from operating casinos,” Troy Stremming, senior vice president of governmental relations and public affairs said.

Ameristar’s analysis reveals that the State of Missouri will receive the greatest tax benefit by locating the casino in Cape Girardeau, a city in southeastern Missouri.

“This study describes in depth which casino location has the potential to add the most incremental Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) and maximize the tax revenue needed to provide critical funding for Missouri’s public schools,” said Stremming “A Cape Girardeau casino will generate $23.5 million in annual incremental new tax revenue; almost double the amount generated by a Chain of Rocks casino and nearly three times the amount generated by the Sugar Creek casino.”