Pinnacle Comes Before Missouri Regulators Again

Casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment is no stranger to controversy when it comes to St. Louis.

Pinnacle was at the center of a fight with Missouri Gaming Commissioners who wanted to revoke the license of the President casino on the Mississippi waterfront for continually producing falling revenue. However Pinnacle argued that revenues could not be raised unless they were granted permission to temporarily close and relocate the aging riverboat to make needed repairs, which the commission denied. After months of battling, Pinnacle conceded to regulators earlier this year and agreed to surrender the President’s gaming license and concentrate on the new River City casino that opened downtown in April.

However after the President closed at the end of June, Pinnacle filed a lawsuit against the city of St. Louis to prevent them from backing another casino operator. The courts dismissed Pinnacle’s case ruling that the city was not violating any previous agreements.

Now Pinnacle is before the commission again, this time being disciplined and fined for what regulators called significant violations of state regulations at Lumiere Place.

Pinnacle was fined $50,000 for 10 violations that ranged from who inspected dice at the craps table and the exchange of chips between cashier carts to failing to scan or manually enter coupons into the cash register and not changing the total on documents after manual adjustments were made.