ASCA A SPAC I Acquisition Corporation

Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASCA) announced today it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Pioneer Valley Building and Construction Trades Council and Carpenters Local No. 108 designed to ensure that union tradesmen will build its luxury hotel and entertainment resort if awarded the sole casino license for western Massachusetts.

"We look forward to partnering with the Trades Council and Local 108 to create approximately 2,000 construction jobs," said Troy Stremming, Ameristar's Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs. "This MOU creates a framework for negotiating a definitive agreement meant to assure required labor harmony during development and construction of our resort. By signing the MOU now, it will allow the trades the lead time necessary to prepare their workforces to begin building the project as soon as the license is awarded. In turn, the much needed permanent jobs and tax revenue the project will generate will not be delayed."

Ameristar owns a 40-acre site on Page Blvd. and Interstate Highway 291 in Springfield, Mass., which has been cleared and is ready for construction.

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," "could," "would," "will" 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, 2011, and "Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.

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 began construction on our ninth property, a casino resort in Lake Charles, La., in July 2012, which we expect will open in the third quarter of 2014. 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: Roxann M. Kinkade, APR Director of Communications Ameristar Casinos, Inc. 816-414-7007