On Thursday, its St. Louis-based owner, Queen Casino and Entertainment, publicly announced that Casino Queen Marquette, one of Iowa’s boathouse casinos, received approval from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, better known as Iowa’s iGaming regulator, to move to the coast, meaning on location away from the Mississippi River, where it’s currently located.
Once the casino moves to the coast, only two riverboat casinos will remain in Iowa, the Lakeside Hotel Casino on West Lake in Osceola and the casino at Ameristar Casino Hotel in Council Bluffs.
New location and casino upgrade:
The casino’s new location will be at 100 Anti Monopoly Street in the picturesque town of Driftless Region, owner Queen Casino and Entertainment mentioned in a press release.
As for the upgrades the casino will undergo when it changes location, company officials said: “The casino will add more than 12,000 square feet to an existing dockside building to accommodate the 17,000-square-foot casino, which will have more than 400 slot machines, two new blackjack tables and other games.
“We also planned to build a new main entrance, dining areas and a sports bar.”
Riverboat gambling legalization in Iowa:
Before the official legalization of riverboat gambling in Iowa in 1991, gamblers could only bet a maximum of $5 and losers were limited to $200 for a session.
But that’s not all; since the boats had to occasionally go on excursions.
In 2004, the Iowa State Legislature voted unanimously to allow casinos to moor barges in man-made pools, successfully removing a rule requiring casinos to only be on boats.
About:
Headquartered in Marquette, Iowa, Casino Queen Marquette is a 17, 514 square feet riverboat casino owned and managed by Illinois-based Queen Casino and Entertainment. It was founded and officially launched on March 1st, 2009.
The casino is located next to a 31-hectare lot with a marina and indoor pavilion with a dining room on the first floor and a showroom on the second floor. The upper floor of the pavilion can also be used for banquets.
Its gaming portfolio is very diverse and consists of 566 slots and video poker games with an entire room dedicated to video poker. Players will also find 8 gaming tables featuring craps, Mississippi Stud, and Ultimate Texas Hold ’em. There are 2 live poker tables open on weekends.
Casino Queen Marquette offers game play on a Mississippi Riverboat called the Miss Marquette. The entire first deck of the casino is smoke-free and the upper deck allows smokers to participate.
