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November 9, 2009

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Pinnacle wins La. riverboat license

Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2001 | 10:24 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. of Glendale, Calif., won Louisiana's 15th and final riverboat gambling license today after offering to build a $220 million casino resort in Lake Charles.

The state gambling board, which chose the company from a field of three applicants, said the license is tied to a condition that Pinnacle cannot begin to offer gambling until it builds a hotel, golf course and related facilities.

The board will have the conditions in writing ready for formal agreement by the company on Nov. 20.

Pinnacle also owns riverboat casinos in Louisiana in Bossier City and the New Orleans suburb of Harvey. The company also has operations in Reno, Biloxi, Miss., Indiana and Argentina.

The Lake Charles market currently has a pair of two-boat riverboat complexes that draw heavily from Texas. The boats compete with a popular Indian reservation casino in nearby Kinder.

The other applicants for the final license were Las Vegas casino figure Jack Binion's Horseshoe Entertainment and a partnership including Isle of Capri Casinos of Biloxi, Miss.

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