HARVEY, La., July 24, 2012-- Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:PNK) today announced a major investment at its Boomtown Casino New Orleans property with a planned $20 million hotel project. The 150-room five-story hotel will include suites, a fitness center and meeting space along with 250 additional parking spaces. The new addition will be connected to Boomtown's existing facility which includes a casino, entertainment venue, restaurants and meeting space.

Construction is expected to begin within 60 days and take approximately 13 months to complete. The hotel addition will create approximately 50 new permanent jobs and more than 150 construction related jobs. Louisiana-based The Lemoine Company will be the general contractor.

"The addition of a hotel to Boomtown allows us to grow our customer base in the market through enhanced guest offerings and also increases options for current Pinnacle guests who come to visit the New Orleans area," said Boomtown Vice President and General Manager Barry Regula. He adds, "We expect to provide the best total hotel and entertainment experience on the West Bank."

"Our commitment to the state of Louisiana always has been and remains strong and we will continue to invest in ways that create great environments for our team members, memorable experiences for our guests and solid returns for our shareholders," said Geno M. Iafrate, Executive Vice President of Regional Operations for Pinnacle. He adds, "We believe the new hotel at Boomtown combined with our already excellent guest service will boost tourism to the West Bank and provide new economic benefits to local residents and businesses alike."

"Pinnacle is once again demonstrating they are good partners in Jefferson Parish providing tangible benefits such as jobs, infrastructure improvements and positive community outreach," said Ricky Templet, Jefferson Parish District 1 Councilman. He adds, "In a time when many communities are struggling, we are pleased to work closely with the Boomtown management team on this exciting hotel project bringing new jobs and continued economic development to the West Bank."

Pinnacle Entertainment owns and operates four unique properties in Louisiana; Boomtown New Orleans, Boomtown Casino Hotel Bossier City, L'Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles and L'Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge which is scheduled to open this summer, pending regulatory approval.

About Boomtown Casino New Orleans
Boomtown New Orleans, located on the West Bank of the Mississippi in New Orleans and approximately 15 minutes from the French Quarter, opened in 1994 and features a 30,000-square-foot casino with more than 1,400 slot machines and 32 table games, including a live poker room and high limit slots and tables. Boomtown New Orleans also offers approximately 1,700 parking spaces and features four casual and fine dining venues, a 350-seat nightclub entertainment venue and over 4,600-square-feet of meeting and conference space.

For more information about Boomtown Casino New Orleans: www.boomtownneworleans.com or find us on Facebook.

About Pinnacle Entertainment
Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates six casinos, located in Louisiana, Missouri, and Indiana, and a racetrack in Ohio. In addition, Pinnacle is developing L'Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge, and holds a 26% ownership stake in Asian Coast Development (Canada) Ltd. (ACDL), an international development and real estate company currently developing Vietnam's first large-scale integrated resort on the Ho Tram Strip.

All statements included in this press release, other than historical information or statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company's the completion and opening schedule and potential job creation of the Boomtown New Orleans expansion project; the facilities, features and amenities of the Boomtown New Orleans expansion project, 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 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. For more information on the potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results and business, review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K.

Boomtown is a registered trademark of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PNK. To learn more about Pinnacle Entertainment, please visit www.pnkinc.com.