CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) _ A Lake County judge has upheld a ruling by the Indiana Gaming Commission allowing Pinnacle Entertainment to sell the Ameristar Casino gambling boat in East Chicago to a real estate investment trust and then lease it back.

Unite Here Local 1 represents about 200 Ameristar employees. The union argued the sale by Pinnacle to Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. would violate a state law limiting an entity to owning at most two casinos. GLPI owns the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg and also has been approved to purchase the property of the Belterra Casino in Florence.

The (Munster) Times reports Lake Superior Court Judge Tempore Leon Sarkisian ruled Wednesday in favor of GLPI attorneys who argued the trust owns just the real estate assets.