Pinnacle Entertainment - one of the world's largest casino operators - would rather move north to rebuild one of the casinos the company lost to Hurricane Katrina.  However, probably to the chagrin of New Orleans residents, north does not mean Baton Rouge.  North in the sense of St. Louis, Missouri is more like it.  Three of Pinnacles casinos in the Gulf area, including Biloxi, Lake Charles and New Orleans were all put out of commission by Rita, which although insurance will cover, complicates things in relation to Pinnacle's current projects

Pinnacle had recently won a bid to build a large casino resort in St. Louis.  Now, it seems likely that insurance payments will help to fund the big casino, rather than rebuild near the Gulf and risk losing another casino to a Hurricane.  As much of a disappointment as this is to those who were counting on casinos rebuilding to help regenerate the economy, nobody can really blame Pinnacle for wanting to not put themselves at risk.

The casino resort in St. Louis is going to cost upwards of $400 million, which means that while revenue is not coming in from the Gulf Casinos anymore, more funds will need to be allocated to the large project in Missouri.  However, nothing is written in stone at this point, for the final details of the Missouri casino are still being finalized.  When they are complete, Pinnacle will then be able to decide whether they will rebuild casinos or even a casino in the Gulf Region.