There are currently two riverboat casinos in Council Bluffs. This allowed riverboat casinos to resemble land-based buildings. That same year the state also legalized casinos on moored barges that float in man-made basins of water and no longer required the casinos to be on boats. Three years later, in 1994, the Iowa legislature eliminated those gambling restrictions. The first riverboat started operating on April 1, 1991, and in those early days, gamblers were limited to a maximum $5 bet, coupled with a maximum loss of $200 per person, per cruise. There are three casinos in Council Buffs: two are riverboat casinos and one is a pari-mutuel (racetrack) casino.
