ST. LOUIS • For now, at least, the city of St. Louis is free to pursue a second casino. And it appears there are three companies that want to build one there.

On the same day that pre-applications for Missouri's 13th casino license were due to state gambling regulators, a federal judge denied on Thursday Pinnacle Entertainment's request to keep St. Louis out of the high-stakes competition. The ruling gives the city the chance to partner with a developer to bring another casino to its riverfront.

The city is in court with Pinnacle, the last casino company it partnered with. In May, the two sides filed dueling lawsuits over their 2004 agreement to build Lumière Place. In the agreement, St. Louis had agreed to oppose any new casino within 25 miles of the city. But that was when the President Casino was operational. In March, Pinnacle agreed to shut the aging riverboat, prompting City Hall to start seeking partners to apply for the newly available license.

Pinnacle cried foul, citing their 2004 deal and saying a new casino in St. Louis would "ruin" Lumière's business. It asked Judge Audrey Fleissig to bar St. Louis from participating in the state's licensing process until the lawsuits were settled. That would probably knock the city out of the competition, as applications are due Sept. 1.

In her ruling today, Fleissig told the gambling company "No."

"The threat of any harm to Pinnacle is speculative," she wrote, while the city is losing $2 million a year in tax revenue through the President's closure and wouldn't even be able to try to replace it if an injunction was in place.

The ruling vindicates the city's position, said City Counselor Patti Hageman.

"Pinnacle cannot simply close the President Casino and then prohibit the city from pursuing a replacement gaming project," she said in a statement.

A Pinnacle spokesman did not return messages seeking comment.

More good news for the city's bid to replace the President came late Thursday, when the Missouri Gaming Commission said it had received seven economic studies — essentially pre-applications — from groups interested in building a new casino. Three of those were for projects in the city of St. Louis.

One came from Casino Celebration, a group that includes local developer and Casino Queen President Jim Koman, which wants to build a $125 million project south of the Chain of Rocks Bridge. An attorney for that effort, Greg Smith, called the judge's ruling Thursday "good news."

"I'd hope it would permit the city to now proceed vigorously," he said. "Casino Celebration is fully committed to moving forward with a bid."

Casino Celebration could face two competitors for the city's blessing: Bluestone Diversified Investments, a Chicago-based private equity firm; and KPS Capital LLC.

No details were available late Thursday on either of those proposals.

Those plans also will compete with at least four other projects across Missouri. The gaming commission received pre-applications for projects in Cape Girardeau from Isle of Capri Corp. and a group of former Argosy Gaming executives; for a $350 million casino complex in Spanish Lake just south of the Columbia River Bottoms; and from Las Vegas-based Epic Gaming LLC for a project in Sugar Creek, near Kansas City.

Other proposals could yet emerge, said commission spokeswoman LeAnn McCarthy.

Full applications are due Sept. 1, and the state hopes to pick a winner by year's end.