Pinnacle Entertainment Receives Community Partnership Award from St. Louis County

LAS VEGAS, May 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: PNK) received the 2006 Community Partnership Award from the St. Louis County Economic Council at a ceremony hosted by County Executive Charlie Dooley.

The honor was in recognition of Pinnacle's close cooperation with numerous government agencies and the Lemay community in south St. Louis County, where the company is building the $375 million River City(SM) Casino & Hotel entertainment complex. The Company has also committed to building an important new access road from Interstate 55 to its Lemay site, which is intended to spur additional investment and economic activity in the area.

In addition to the River City complex and the new access road, Pinnacle will also construct a multi-million dollar community center for the Lemay area.

"We are honored to receive this award for our work with the St. Louis community. Our new neighbors here in Lemay have been enthusiastic about our project from the beginning. We will build a project of which they can be proud, and we will continue to be a good neighbor to this community," said Daniel R. Lee, Chairman and CEO of Pinnacle Entertainment.

The River City Casino & Hotel will open in 2008 and is planned to include a large casino with 3,000 slot machines and 60 table games, a 100-guestroom hotel, full-service spa, restaurants, a boutique bowling alley, a multiplex movie theatre, an indoor ice rink, extensive retail and entertainment space, and a public park with athletic fields and a hatch-shell music and entertainment venue.

About Pinnacle Entertainment

Pinnacle Entertainment owns and operates casinos in Nevada, Louisiana, Indiana, Argentina, and the Bahamas, owns a hotel in Missouri, receives lease income from a card club casino in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and owns a casino site and has significant insurance claims related to a hurricane- damaged casino previously operated in Biloxi, Mississippi. Pinnacle also has two casino development projects in the St. Louis, Missouri area, which are dependent upon final approval by the Missouri Gaming Commission.

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, including statements regarding the Company's construction projects in St. Louis and additional investment and economic activity in the area, 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, (a) the risk that the acquisition of the President Casino-St. Louis does not close; (b) many construction-related factors could prevent the Company from completing its construction and development projects within budget and on time; (c) because the Company has considerable leverage, future cash flows may not be sufficient to meet its financial obligations and the Company might have difficulty obtaining additional financing; (d) the risk that the proposed St. Louis projects, the proposed expansions to the existing facilities and other capital intensive projects could strain the Company's financial resources and the risk that such projects and new developments might not provide for a sufficient return, if any; (e) the results of the damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and insurance proceeds available to the Company, including the impact to communities surrounding the Company's affected properties and issues that could arise with respect to our insurance policies that could reduce or significantly delay the receipt of insurance proceeds; and (f) other risks, including those 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

At Pinnacle Entertainment - (702) 784-7777:
Dan Lee, Chairman & CEO
Wade Hundley, President
Steve Capp, CFO
Chris Plant or Lewis Fanger, Investor Relations

At The Vandiver Group - (314) 991-4641 ext. 111:
Mack A. Bradley, SVP
mbradley@vandivergroup.com

SOURCE Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.
05/23/2006
CONTACT: Dan Lee, Chairman & CEO, or Wade Hundley, President, or Steve Capp, CFO, or Chris Plant or Lewis Fanger, Investor Relations, all at Pinnacle Entertainment, +1-702-784-7777; or Mack A. Bradley, SVP, at The Vandiver Group, +1-314-991-4641 ext. 111, mbradley@vandivergroup.com
Web site: http://www.pnkinc.com
(PNK)
05/23/2006 08:05 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com