Black Hawk Casino Becomes Tallest Structure Between Denver and Salt Lake City

DENVER, CO - As reported by CNN.com: "Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASCA) will "top off" its 33-story, 536-room luxury hotel and spa at Ameristar Casino Black Hawk this morning, making
Ameristar Black Hawk Casino  it the tallest structure between Denver and Salt Lake City, and signaling the arrival of Las Vegas-caliber accommodations and entertainment to the Rockies when the hotel and related amenities open later this year.

Ameristar will celebrate this construction milestone with a ceremony at 10 a.m. MST. Guests, Team Members and community leaders will add their signatures to a steel beam that will be lifted by a crane to the hotel's top level and placed in its roof. "Topping off" is an important construction milestone because it signals that a building has reached its highest level.

The topping-off follows the Jan. 13 approval by Black Hawk voters of a local referendum to implement Amendment 50, a provision that will liberalize several Colorado casino restrictions. Ameristar Casino Black Hawk will spend the next several months preparing for Amendment 50's July 2 effective date, as well as the scheduled third-quarter 2009 opening of its hotel and spa. The hotel and spa should enable Ameristar to fully leverage the changes allowed by Amendment 50, which include increasing single-bet limits to $100, operating the casino 24 hours daily and adding the games of craps and roulette..."

When the full Hotel opens in 2009's 3rd Quarter, guests can expect the following additions to Black Hawk:

--  A 33-story, full-service hotel with 536 well-appointed rooms,
    including 64 suites. All rooms will feature upscale furnishings, including
    plasma screen televisions, double vanities, separate tubs and showers, and
    wireless high-speed Internet access. Each standard 450-square-foot guest
    room will include a king-sized bed or two queen-sized beds and marble foyer
    entries. All suites will offer hot tubs, and some will feature double-sided
    fireplaces and views of the Continental Divide. All rooms will be furnished
    with top-of-the-line mattresses, luxurious linens and premium bath
    products.
--  Black Hawk's only hotel swimming pool, along with indoor and outdoor
    whirlpool spas set within an open-air heated patio on the hotel's roof. The
    pool level will feature a movable glass wall to enclose the pool during
    winter months while preserving panoramic mountain views. The pool's setting
    will be crafted from dry-stacked quarried stone as well as heavy wood beams
    and trusses with wrought-iron details.
--  A full-service day spa, featuring six treatment rooms, hot tubs, sauna
    and steam rooms. The spa will offer traditional spa services, including
    massages, scrubs, facials, pedicures and manicures. An adjoining fitness
    center with state-of-the-art cardiovascular and strength-training machines
    will be available to all hotel guests.
--  Almost 10,000 square feet of event and meeting space equipped with the
    latest technology, including an event center, pre-function areas and
    hospitality suites.