The President Casino, a riverboat gambling hall docked along the Mississippi River near St. Louis, was shut down early Thursday morning due to rising floodwaters. The shutdown is expected to be temporary, as forecasters expect the waters to crest early Sunday morning.

The troubled riverboat casino has experienced several shutdowns in the last few months. The site closed for four days in March and for more than a week in May due to rising waters. As expected, the closures have had serious impacts on the casino’s revenues. Gambling income in May was down more than forty percent from May 2009.

Although this incident represents the casino’s most recent shutdown, it will not be the last. Due to revenue shortfalls, Missouri state gambling officials have ordered the revocation of the site’s gaming license. The President will be permanently closed 1 July and its gaming license will be made available to other prospective casinos.

In addition to another St. Louis site, other candidates for the license include Sugar Creek, a suburb of Kansas City, and Cape Girardeau, a small city in the southeastern part of the state. Missouri gaming control board members have not yet announced a date for their decision.

Pinnacle Entertainment, owners of the President, also own Lumiere Place in downtown St. Louis and River City Casino in South St. Louis County. Officials with the company say that this is the first time in history that any casino company has lost a gaming license due to failure to meet tax revenue expectations, rather than criminal or gaming violations.