Harrah's Entertainment

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Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. NYSE: HET is a gaming corporation that operates a number of casinos in the United States. The company is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1 History
2 Brands
3 Casinos
4 External links

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History

The company started out in 1937 as a small bingo parlor in Reno, Nevada operated by William F. Harrah.

On June 13, 2005 Harrah's completed the takeover of Caesars Entertainment. While the companies were not required to divest any properties, they did sell several properties before the merger was completed. This merger made Harrah's the largest gambling company with over 4 million square feet (370,000 m²) of casinos, almost 100,000 employees and over 40 casinos.

At the end of June 2005, Harrah's Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman announced that the company will consolidate all their brand names under the following: Harrah's, Rio, Caesars, and Horseshoe. Some stand alone names, like Paris Las Vegas are likely to be retained.

First up will be the rebranding of the two remaining Bally's properties in the company, but Loveman did not give any exact specifics or a timeline of when this will occur.

The implication is that Bally's Las Vegas will be either:

Completely or partially imploded and rebuilt. Suggested plans involve bringing the current Bally's entrance closer to the Strip. If this option is selected, it is expected that work would begin no earlier than 2007.
Renamed either as Horseshoe or Harrah's. If renamed as Harrah's, then the current Harrah's property will take the Horseshoe name.

The Atlantic City Bally's will be rebranded with either the Horseshoe or Rio brand.

In August 2005, Harrah's New Orleans, Grand Casino Biloxi, and Grand Casino Gulfport were closed because of Hurricane Katrina. The Grand locations were largely destroyed, with all or of the barge-based buildings cotaining their gaming areas being torn from their moorings and blown across U.S. Highway 90. All three casinos are closed indefinitely, and ther futures are uncertain.

In Septemper 2005, Harrah's Lake Charles Casino and Hotel was severely damaged by Hurricane Rita. It too remains closed indefinitely.

Harrah's is offering employees from all of the affected properties 90 days of base pay, continued health benefits, and expidited employment at any other Harrah's property.

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Brands

As of 2005, Harrah's owns 50 casinos in 13 states, under the following brands:

Bally's
Caesars
Flamingo
Grand Casino
Harrah's
Harveys
Horseshoe
Paris
Rio
Showboat
Imperial Palace (Las Vegas only)

Harrah's has announced that it expects to consolidate the number of brands along with keeping selected stand alone names currently in use as discussed above.

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