HARVEY, La., March 1, 2013 -- Boomtown Casino New Orleans, a Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:PNK) property, broke ground today on a previously announced $20 million hotel project. The 150-room five-story hotel will include eight beautiful suites, a fitness center, conference space and 250 additional parking spaces.

The new addition will be connected to Boomtown's existing facility that includes a casino, entertainment venue, restaurants and meeting space. Construction begins immediately and is expected to take approximately 14 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 is the general contractor for the project.

"This is a memorable day for the Boomtown team and the West Bank community as we break ground on a terrific new hotel tower; a project that will allow us to attract new guests while also providing enhanced amenities to guests who visit us today," said Boomtown Vice President and General Manager Harold Rowland. He adds, "The addition of a hotel will also provide a wonderful experience for Pinnacle Entertainment guests who come to visit the New Orleans area from around the country."

"Pinnacle is once again demonstrating they are good partners in Jefferson Parish, providing tangible benefits such as jobs, infrastructure improvements, and positive community outreach," says 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 casino properties in Louisiana; Boomtown New Orleans, Boomtown Casino Hotel Bossier City, L'Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles and L'Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge.

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 seven casinos, located in Louisiana, Missouri, and Indiana, and a racetrack in Ohio. In addition, Pinnacle is redeveloping River Downs in Cincinnati, Ohio into a gaming entertainment facility and holds an approximate 23% 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.

On December 20, 2012, the Company agreed to acquire Ameristar Casinos, Inc. in an all cash transaction valued at $26.50 per Ameristar share or total consideration of $2.8 billion including assumed debt. Ameristar owns and operates casino facilities in St. Charles near St. Louis, Missouri; Kansas City, Missouri; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Black Hawk, Colorado; Vicksburg, Mississippi; East Chicago, Indiana; and the Jackpot properties in Jackpot, Nevada.

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.

L'Auberge is a registered trademark of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved