For Immediate Release
FULL HOUSE RESORTS AND GAMING ENTERTAINMENT MICHIGAN, LLC ANNOUNCES HIRING OF R. BRUCE MCKEE AS GENERAL MANAGER OF FIREKEEPERS CASINO
Las
Vegas – February 25, 2008 – Full House Resorts (AMEX: FLL) and its 50%-owned
joint venture Gaming Entertainment Michigan, LLC (GEM) announced today that it
has hired R. Bruce McKee to be the General Manager of FireKeepers Casino,
located near Battle Creek, Michigan. Mr. McKee will join the FireKeepers team
contingent upon licensing and approval by the National Indian Gaming Commission
(NIGC).
Mr.
McKee has spent the past seven years as President of Gaming Entertainment
Delaware (GED) – a joint venture between the Company and Harrington Raceway
Inc. (HRI) – where he has also acted as General Manager of the venture’s
Harrington Raceway and Casino located in Harrington, Delaware. He recently
oversaw an expansion to improve the customer experience, consisting of
additional gaming devices and a gourmet restaurant, which resulted in increased
earnings. Prior to joining GED, Mr. McKee worked for ten years at Trump Hotels
and Casino Resorts, Inc., in a variety of positions including General Manager
of Trump’s Kansas City and Indiana properties, Chief Operating Officer of Trump
Castle and Trump Taj Mahal casinos and Chief Financial Officer of Trump Hotels
and Casino. Mr. McKee is a CPA and received his MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
“With
the success he brought to Harrington Raceway and Casino in Delaware, it was an
easy decision to bring Bruce on board,” said Full House Chief Executive Officer
Andre Hilliou. “We are confident that Bruce’s extensive experience developing
and managing casinos makes him the ideal person to make FireKeepers Casino a
success in the Great Lakes region.”
GEM
received approval for its gaming management contract on December 14, 2007, from
the NIGC, which was the final federal approval needed for the project. Design
efforts are well underway and Clark Construction Company, an experienced
construction manager, has been engaged with a guaranteed maximum price
construction contract in place. FireKeepers Casino is expected to have approximately
3,200 gaming positions, a variety of dining venues and 2,500 parking spaces –
inclusive of a 2,078 space enclosed parking garage – and is slated to break
ground early this year. The casino will be located at Exit 104 of Interstate
94, the primary interstate highway between Chicago and Detroit. GEM will
receive a management fee for seven years.
About Full House
Resorts, Inc.
Full House owns, develops and manages gaming
facilities. Full House owns the Stockman’s Casino in Fallon, Nevada which has
8,400 square feet of gaming space with approximately 260 gaming machines, four
table games and a keno game. The casino has a bar, a fine dining
restaurant and a coffee shop. Full House also receives a guaranteed fee from
the operation of Harrington Raceway and Casino, formerly Midway Slots and
Simulcast at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, Delaware. Harrington
Raceway and Casino recently opened an expansion and is remodeling its original
building which will result in a total of 2,000 gaming devices, a buffet,
gourmet Steak House, other food and beverage outlets and an entertainment
lounge. Full House also has a management agreement with the Nottawaseppi
Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians for the development and management of a
first-class casino with 2,500 gaming devices, 90 table games and 20 poker
tables in the Battle Creek, Michigan area, which is currently in development. In
addition, Full House has been working with the Nambé Pueblo of New Mexico for the development of a casino and with the Northern Cheyenne Nation of Montana
for the development and management of a 27,000 square foot gaming
facility. Further information about Full House can be viewed on its web
site at www.fullhouseresorts.com.
Forward-looking
Statements
Some
of the statements made in this release are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are based upon Full House’s current expectations and
projections about future events and generally relate to Full House’s plans,
objectives and expectations for Full House’s business. Although Full House’s
management believes that the plans and objectives expressed in these
forward-looking statements are reasonable, the outcome of such plans,
objectives and expectations involve risks and uncertainties including without
limitation, regulatory approvals, financing sources and terms, integration of
acquisitions, competition and business conditions in the gaming industry.
Additional information concerning potential factors that could affect Full
House’s financial condition and results of operations is included in the
reports Full House files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including,
but not limited to, its Form 10‑KSB for the most recently ended fiscal
year.
For
the foregoing reasons, readers and investors are cautioned that there also can
be no assurance that the outcomes expressed in Full House’s forward-looking
statements included in this release and otherwise will prove to be accurate. In
light of the significant uncertainties inherent in such forward-looking
statements, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a
representation or warranty by Full House or any other person that Full House’s
objectives and plans will be achieved in any specified time frame, if at all.
Full House does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements or to announce revisions to any forward-looking statements.
# # #
For
further information, contact:
Mark Miller, Chief Financial
Officer
Full House Resorts, Inc.
702-221-7800
www.fullhouseresorts.com
Or
William R. Schmitt
Integrated Corporate
Relations
203-682-8200
investors@fullhouseresorts.com
