Park Place announces executive promotions

Thursday, April 10, 2003 | 11:10 a.m.

Park Place Entertainment Corp. today named Bobby Yee as president of the company's adjacent Bally's and Paris Las Vegas resorts on the Strip.

Yee, president and chief executive officer of Casino Windsor In Ontario, Canada, replaces Anthony Santo. Santo, formerly president of the company's Flamingo resort, replaced Paul Pusateri.

Pusateri resigned in 2000. The following year he joined Florida-based condo developer Turnberry Associates to pursue a London-theme resort adjacent to the company's upscale Turnberry Place condominium complex. The London project has been put on hold.

Santo will now oversee operations of a dozen Park Place resorts as senior vice president of the company's Western and Mid-South regions.

Santo will also assume responsibility for the company's interests in LasVegas.com, the company's online room-booking joint venture with Mandalay Resort Group.

Frank Han, Park Place's senior vice president of electronic commerce and a former dot-com executive, held that responsibility before resigning last month amid pronouncements that the company wouldn't be pursuing an Internet gambling site in the near term.

Yee has more than 25 years of experience in the gaming industry and assumed the top job at Casino Windsor in 1998 after serving as chief of Casino Rama, north of Toronto.

Kevin Laforet, chief operating officer of Windsor Casino Ltd., will assume Yee's position.

Park Place owns 50 percent of Casino Windsor under a management contract with its owner, the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corp. The 389-room resort lies across the U.S. border from Detroit, which has three casinos.