LAS VEGAS, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: PNK) today announced the hiring of Patrick J. Browne as Vice President and General Manager of the Company's Boomtown New Orleans casino in Harvey, Louisiana. Terri Porcaro has been named Vice President and General Manager of Lumiere Place in downtown St. Louis. Both will assume their new positions this month.

Mr. Browne joins Boomtown New Orleans with many years of casino industry experience, ranging from human resources to gaming operations. A native of Seaside Heights, New Jersey, Mr. Browne spent nearly three decades with Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. beginning in human resources in 1980. He held several positions of increasing responsibility, from director of casino operations for Harrah's North Kansas City Casino Missouri to Assistant General Manager of Harrah's St. Louis Riverboat and Senior Vice President and General Manager of Harrah's Prairie Band Casino in Mayetta, Kansas. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Browne was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Grand Casino Resorts in Tunica, Mississippi, where he focused on increasing profitability, controlling expenses, increasing customer and employee satisfaction, and reducing staff turnover. Since 2008, Mr. Browne has served as a gaming operations consultant to the Choctaw Casinos' seven gaming operations in southeastern Oklahoma. Mr. Browne will report to Alain Uboldi, Pinnacle's Chief Operating Officer.

Terri Porcaro brings extensive casino resort, hotel and riverboat gaming management experience to the Company's Lumiere Place in downtown St. Louis. A native of Las Vegas, she began her hospitality career as a hotel information clerk while still in high school. She began her gaming career in 1984 as a casino floor supervisor at the MGM Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and progressed through a series of operating jobs at the Las Vegas Hilton and the Gold Strike Hotel and Gambling Hall in Jean, Nevada. From 1994 to 1998, Ms. Porcaro rose through the management ranks at the Grand Victoria Riverboat Casino in Elgin, Illinois and was named General Manager in 1997. In 1998, she joined the luxurious Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, which includes an expansive casino, 4,760 guestrooms, Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas and several restaurants run by celebrity chefs. She served as Vice President and General Manager of Mandalay Bay from 2001 to 2005. Most recently, Ms. Porcaro has worked as a consultant with W.A. Richardson Builders, a Las Vegas gaming and construction consulting company.

In her new role, Ms. Porcaro will report to Todd George, who has been named Regional Vice President-St. Louis in addition to his current role as General Manager of River City Casino. A native of upstate New York, Mr. George began his gaming career as an auditor with the New York State Gaming and Wagering Board. From 1995 to 2000, Mr. George worked in the finance department at the Turning Stone Casino near Syracuse, New York. In 2000, Mr. George joined Pinnacle in the accounting department of Belterra Casino Resort in Vevay, Indiana, and was an integral part of the management team that significantly improved the resort's operating results. From 2003 to 2006, Mr. George served as General Manager of Pinnacle's Boomtown Bossier City property in Bossier City, Louisiana, which performed well in a challenging operating market during his tenure. Mr. George moved to St. Louis in 2006 to head the opening team for Lumiere Place. With his experience in the St. Louis market and his success in launching the Lumiere Place complex, Mr. George will be integral to the development of Pinnacle's regional Missouri properties.

"We're pleased to bring Patrick Browne and Terri Porcaro to the Pinnacle team," said John V. Giovenco, Pinnacle Entertainment's Interim Chief Executive Officer. "Patrick brings a wealth of experience in operations and human resources to Boomtown New Orleans.

"Terri's extensive background of operating and managing successful riverboat operations and a high-profile Las Vegas resort will be invaluable to Lumiere Place, which features Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis and other unique amenities," Mr. Giovenco continued. "As we prepare to open River City, our second casino in the St. Louis area, we will look to Terri and her team to work closely with Todd George, Regional Vice President-St. Louis and General Manager of River City, to enhance and expand Pinnacle's overall position in this important market."

About Pinnacle Entertainment

Pinnacle Entertainment owns and operates casinos in Nevada, Louisiana, Indiana, Missouri and Argentina. The Company has a second casino development project under construction in the St. Louis area, to be called River City, the opening of which is dependent upon final approval by the Missouri Gaming Commission. Pinnacle is also developing a second casino resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to be called Sugarcane Bay at L'Auberge du Lac, and a casino resort in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Additionally, Pinnacle owns a casino site at the heart of the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Boomtown, Lumiere Place, River City and Sugarcane Bay are registered trademarks of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.