Let it ride: VLTs ready to open in a city that's no stranger to gambling - 2004-01-26
New casino-type machines that will open Wednesday at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway are the latest chapter in the Spa City's long and colorful history as a center for gambling.

Small-stakes games of chance have been going on since Saratoga Springs founder Gideon Putnam opened his first boarding house in the early 1800s.

In 1870, the city took on a whole new image when John Morrissey of Troy built Saratoga Club House (now Canfield Casino in Congress Park), which attracted high-stakes gamblers from throughout the world, including the likes of Diamond Jim Brady.
Read the full story at The Saratogian

Long, Levison, Mills roll dice with Pinnacle Chairman Lee - 2004-01-26
Dan Lee, chairman of Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., won the bid to open a new casino on Laclede's Landing, with the help of hometowners Denny Long and Mark Levison. Meanwhile, Lee's dream has others, such as developer Bruce Mills, jumping on the Pinnacle bandwagon.

Long brought Lee and his company to St. Louis last spring when Long contacted the casino executive out of the blue.

A lifelong resident of south St. Louis and former president of the beer subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. from 1977 to 1987, Long for years has been courting casino companies to develop the site of the old National Lead Co. in Lemay.
Read the full story at St. Louis Business Journal