The Mississippi Belle II that is located in the small city of Clinton, Iowa on the Mississippi River has been known for the ugliest cards in the midwest for a long time. Well, they finally have different cards! They have used a process of placing a blank card in a machine and printing the entire front of the card, with player name account number and casino logo all at once. The new cards do the same, but with a different look. They used to have three levels of cards -- basic white, mid-level gold and a top-level green (which I could never find, in my handful of trips to that place, 200 miles from my house), plus a red "Tour Card" that was used for bus groups. And they have a lot of those. They cater to bus outfits, as Clinton isn't that big, and the two largest cities near there have their own gambling -- three riverboats in the Quad Cities (30 miles south) and a riverboat and a race track casino in Dubuque (60 miles north).

When I was there yersterday afternoon, the place was very busy, and at least a third to almost half of the people were using ther red "Tour Cards." The red cards have not been updated, and if you've never seen them, they look like I show with the name of the travel company on them. Samples I got yesterday included "Lucky Riders" (shown), "Time Out" and "Let's Go Travel." I know of some collectors who like to get the different name versions.

Now, for the new cards -- I got a handful of the white basic cards, which show a new purple logo on the front which looks nice only because it is new, and in a year or so, if they don't change it again, they will once more be "the ugliest cards in the midwest." I also got one each (no traders, sorry) of a cream colored card and green Emerald Club card. I assume these are higher levels that equal the old gold and green ones.

I have white and red cards for trading, as well as the new red card from Rhythm City in Davenport that I got a new supply.