Ameristar Casinos Increases Cash Dividend by 19%

    Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASCA) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per share, payable March 15, 2012 to stockholders of record as of Feb. 29, 2012. This represents an annual rate of $0.50 per share, a 19% increase over the annual dividend for 2011.

"As a result of our strong operational performance and free cash flow, we are pleased to increase the amount we are returning to our shareholders," said Gordon Kanofsky, Ameristar's Chief Executive Officer. "In addition to our dividend policy, we are focused on increasing shareholder value in a number of ways: by reducing our outstanding debt, through the opportunistic repurchase of shares and through future acquisitions and new developments."

Forward-Looking Information This release contains certain forward-looking information that generally can be identified by the context of the statement or the use of forward-looking terminology, such as "believes," "estimates," "anticipates," "intends," "expects," "plans," "is confident that," "should" or words of similar meaning, with reference to Ameristar or our management. Similarly, statements that describe our future plans, objectives, strategies, financial results or position, operational expectations or goals are forward-looking statements. It is possible that our expectations may not be met due to various factors, many of which are beyond our control, and we therefore cannot give any assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. For a discussion of relevant factors, risks and uncertainties that could materially affect our future results, attention is directed to "Item 1A. Risk Factors" and "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2011 and "Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2011.

About Ameristar Ameristar Casinos is an innovative casino gaming company featuring the newest and most popular slot machines. Our 7,500 dedicated team members pride themselves on delivering consistently friendly and appreciative service to our guests. We continuously strive to increase the loyalty of our guests through the quality of our slot machines, table games, hotel, dining and other leisure offerings. Our eight casino hotel properties primarily serve guests from Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska and Nevada. We have been a public company since 1993, and our stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. We generate more than $1 billion in net revenues annually.

Visit Ameristar Casinos' website at www.ameristar.com (which shall not be deemed to be incorporated in or a part of this news release).

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CONTACT: Tom Steinbauer Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer Ameristar Casinos, Inc. 702-567-7000