Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. today announced that the casino at its L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, La. reopened at 7:30 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday, Sept. 17 after sustaining minimal damage from Hurricane Ike. The casino floor had temporarily closed in the early morning hours of Saturday, Sept. 13 with the arrival of the storm, while the hotel, most restaurants and retail at L’Auberge du Lac remained open throughout the storm. The Contraband Bayou Golf Club, which was flooded, is expected to reopen today.

The Company’s construction crews worked around the clock with structural engineers and marine experts to repair the entrance and exit ramps between L’Auberge du Lac’s casino and hotel. Neither the casino vessel nor the hotel suffered any structural damage during Hurricane Ike.

As previously reported, the Company’s two other Louisiana casinos, Boomtown New Orleans and Boomtown Bossier City, remained open through Hurricane Ike. As the storm moved north, the Company’s Belterra Casino Resort in Vevay, Indiana switched its hotel to generator power on Sunday, Sept. 14. Belterra’s casino and hotel remained open throughout the storm, and local utilities fully restored the hotel’s electricity on Tues., Sept. 16.

“We’re pleased to welcome our neighbors and employees back after Hurricane Ike, and we thank all of our dedicated employees who worked so hard to return our properties back to normal,” said Daniel R. Lee, Pinnacle’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Separately, Pinnacle announced that it has received a refund of its $25 million privilege fee from the Kansas Lottery Commission in connection with Pinnacle’s decision to withdraw its proposal for a casino complex in Wyandotte County, Kansas. As previously announced, Pinnacle withdrew its application in order to focus the Company’s resources on its existing projects and development opportunities in Louisiana, Missouri and other jurisdictions.

About Pinnacle Entertainment

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates casinos in Nevada, Louisiana, Indiana, Missouri and Argentina, and has significant insurance claims related to a hurricane-damaged hotel and casino complex previously operated in Biloxi, Mississippi. The Company opened Lumiere Place, a $507 million casino hotels complex in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, in December 2007. Pinnacle also has a second casino development project under construction in the St. Louis area, which opening is dependent upon final approval by the Missouri Gaming Commission. Pinnacle is currently developing a second casino resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to be called Sugarcane Bay, and is developing a casino resort in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Additionally, Pinnacle owns a casino site at the heart of the famed Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on which it plans to build a major new casino resort.

All statements included in this press release, other than historical information or statements of historical fact, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that could significantly affect future results. Accordingly, Pinnacle Entertainment cautions that the forward-looking statements contained herein are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, risks as may be detailed from time to time in Pinnacle Entertainment’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (”SEC”). For more information on the potential factors that could affect the Company’s financial results and business, review the Company’s filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K.

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