And when I overheard two Blackjack dealers lamenting about getting turned down for a car loan when the lender found they were casino employees aboard our boat, I knew there was trouble. The DIAMOND LADY, PRESIDENT, and CASINO ROCK ISLAND at the Quad Cities.Īt first, the no-holds-barred style of gambling on the east side of the Mississippi seemed not to affect the boats on the west bank adversely, but soon I noticed a decline in the number of patrons promenading aboard. Across the river in Rock Island, Illinois, Jumer’s CASINO ROCK ISLAND, one of the most lovely of all the casino boats built, was treating Illinois passengers to “unlimited gaming” while Iowa had an ill-conceived $200 loss limit per cruise.

Besides the DIAMOND LADY at Bettendorf, the PRESIDENT, a historical sidewheeler on the National Register of historic places, was working out of nearby Davenport, Iowa. When I joined the DL’s crew just before the first anniversary of the day I watched as Vanna cut the ribbon on April Fool’s day in 1991, gambling was booming on all three of the Quad City casino boats. This a part of a long and continuing story and it first appeared in January 2019 and is reprinted in honor of the discovery of the DIAMOND LADY in the shrinking water of the Mississippi River behind President’s Island in Memphis.

The riverboat captain is a storyteller, and Captain Don Sanders will be sharing the stories of his long association with the river - from discovery to a way of love and life.

Emerald queen casino paddle boat