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Aztar Prefers Ameristar Offer

PHOENIX, Arizona – (PRESS RELEASE) -- Aztar Corporation (NYSE: AZR) today said that its Board of Directors has determined that a further revised definitive offer received on April 24, 2006 from Ameristar Casinos, Inc. to acquire Aztar is a superior proposal when compared to the terms of Aztar's current merger agreement, as amended, with Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. Under the terms of its revised definitive offer, Ameristar would acquire Aztar in a merger transaction in which the holders of Aztar common stock would receive $47.00 per share in cash and the holders of Aztar's Series B preferred stock would receive $497.09 per share in cash. The revised definitive offer included a signed merger agreement. Ameristar also provided a signed financing commitment letter.

Ameristar stated in its revised definitive offer that the offer will remain open until, and will automatically expire if not accepted by, 2:00 p.m. (Las Vegas time) on Friday, April 28, 2006.

Under the terms of Aztar's merger agreement with Pinnacle, Aztar must wait three business days before it can terminate the merger agreement with Pinnacle and enter into a merger agreement with another party. As previously announced, Aztar and Pinnacle amended their merger agreement on April 23, 2006 to increase the purchase price for each share of Aztar common stock to $45.00 in cash. Aztar's Board is not making any recommendation at this time with respect to the revised Ameristar offer, and there can be no assurance that Aztar's Board will approve any such transaction or that a transaction will result.

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