OCTOBER 9, 2008. Penn National Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) announced today that, subject to customary regulatory approvals, Ameet Patel has been named General Manager of its Argosy Casino Hotel & Spa in Riverside, Missouri, effective October 14, 2008. Mr. Patel currently serves as Executive Vice President and Assistant General Manager of Penn National Gaming's Charles Town Races & Slots facility in Charles Town, West Virginia. Mr. Patel assumes the position at Argosy Riverside from Thomas P. Burke, who was recently promoted to Senior Vice President Regional Operations.
Mr. Patel joined Penn National in 2001 and has nearly 20 years of diverse regional and major market casino resort experience, having served in various corporate and property level senior management positions. Prior to joining Penn National, Mr. Patel held several senior management positions with Sun International including Vice President, Casino Administration at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas and Director at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Mr. Patel has extensive experience in the Atlantic City market where he held senior management positions at Resorts Casino Hotel, Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino and Sands Hotel & Casino. In addition, Mr. Patel served as a Corporate Director at Hemmeter Enterprises, which owned and operated casinos in Colorado, Louisiana and Acapulco, Mexico.
Timothy Wilmott, President and Chief Operating Officer of Penn National Gaming, commented, "Ameet's nearly two decades of proven management experience and his contributions to Penn National's Charles Town facility over the last seven years make him ideally suited to manage the Argosy Casino Riverside operations. Our ability to appoint Ameet from within to succeed Tom Burke underscores the depth of Penn National's operating management talent and our philosophy of promoting and attracting proven gaming industry veterans to manage our regional gaming properties.
"Ameet moves to our Argosy Riverside property following the addition of a 258-room hotel and spa which opened in April 2007. Since the opening the facility has consistently generated year-over-year revenue growth, strengthening Penn National's presence in the Kansas City market while exemplifying the Company's disciplined focus and long-term track record of achieving strong returns on our invested capital."
