MTR Gaming Unit Completes Purchase of
Binion’s
Horseshoe;
Harrah’s To Operate Las Vegas Property, Host World Series
Of Poker
LAS VEGAS and CHESTER, WEST VIRGINIA – March 11, 2004 – Speakeasy
Gaming of Fremont, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of MTR Gaming
Group, Inc. (Nasdaq NMS:MNTG), today completed the purchase
of Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel & Casino in downtown
Las Vegas.
In conjunction with the MTR transaction, Harrah’s
Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:HET) acquired rights to the Horseshoe
brand in Nevada
and to the World Series of Poker, the largest poker tournament
in gaming. MTR and Harrah’s have received regulatory
approvals for joint operation of the legendary downtown Las
Vegas property.
Binion’s Horseshoe is expected to reopen
on or about April 1 and to host the 35th annual World Series
of Poker beginning
April 22. Former Binion’s employees have been sent
a letter inviting them to call 702-382-1600, Extension 7329,
to schedule job interviews beginning March 10. Harrah’s
will serve as the primary day-to-day operator of the property
on an interim basis, subject to certain oversight
and review by a joint committee of Harrah’s and MTR.
The joint operating agreement will have an initial term of
one year – which Harrah’s may extend for up to
an additional two years – during which MTR will receive
certain guaranteed payments.
MTR Gaming Group, Inc., through
subsidiaries, owns and operates the Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in Chester, West Virginia, Scioto Downs in Columbus,
Ohio, the Ramada Inn
and Speedway Casino in North Las Vegas, Nevada, Binion’s
Horseshoe in Las Vegas, Nevada, and holds a license to build
Presque Isle Downs, a thoroughbred racetrack with pari-mutuel
racing in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Mountaineer facility currently
encompasses a thoroughbred racetrack with off-track betting
and export simulcasting, 3,200 slot machines, 359 hotel rooms,
golf course, spa & fitness center, theater and events
center, convention center and fine dining and entertainment.
MTR is
included on the Russell 2000® and Russell® 3000 Indexes.
For more information, please visit www.mtrgaming.com.
Founded 66 years ago, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. owns
or manages through various subsidiaries 25 casinos in the United
States, primarily under the Harrah’s brand name. Harrah’s
Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with
its target customers through a unique combination of great
service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational
excellence and technology leadership.
More information
about Harrah’s Entertainment is available
on the company’s Web site, www.harrahs.com.
This release includes "forward-looking statements" intended
to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can
identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate
strictly to historical or current facts. These statements contain
words such as "may," "will," "project," "might," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," "continue" or "pursue," or
the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology.
In particular, they include statements relating to, among other
things, future actions, new projects, strategies, future performance,
the outcome of contingencies such as legal proceedings and
future financial results. We have based these forward-looking
statements on our current expectations and projections about
future events.
We caution the reader that forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified
and, consequently, actual results may differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited
to, the following factors as well as other factors described
from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission:
•
the effect of economic, credit and capital market conditions
on the economy in general, and on gaming and hotel companies
in particular;
•
construction factors, including delays, zoning issues, environmental
restrictions, soil and water conditions, weather and other
hazards, site access matters and building permit issues;
•
the effects of environmental and structural building conditions
relating to the company's properties;
•
our ability to timely and cost effectively integrate into
our operations the companies that we acquire;
•
access to available and feasible financing;
•
changes in laws (including increased tax rates), regulations
or accounting standards, third-party relations and approvals,
and decisions of courts, regulators and governmental bodies;
•
litigation outcomes and judicial actions, including gaming
legislative action, referenda and taxation;
•
ability of our customer-tracking, customer-loyalty and yield-management
programs to continue to increase customer loyalty and same-store
sales;
•
our ability to recoup costs of capital investments through
higher revenues;
•
acts of war or terrorist incidents;
•
abnormal gaming holds, and
•
the effects of competition, including locations of competitors
and operating and market competition.
Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak
only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to publicly
update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise. |
