New Horseshoe Casino Announces Impressive World Series of Poker(R) Ladies' Circuit Event Numbers

CHICAGO, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The new 500 million-dollar Horseshoe Casino, just 20 minutes from downtown Chicago, today announced an impressive final number of female entrants at this past Sunday's high-stakes action of the World Series of Poker(R) circuit event. The third No-Limit Hold 'em $200 buy-in circuit event drew 227 entrants who generated a prize pool of $44,038.

"No other ladies event in the world gives the women this much play, but we wanted to treat them equally with the men," noted Horseshoe's WSOP tournament director Charlie Ceresi. Praise continued from the women as well; "I loved the structure and starting chips and the 40-minute rounds," said Kelley "Sandy Cheeks" Kiser who won a ladies WSOP circuit event at Horseshoe Southern Indiana last April. "And the staff bent over backwards for us: they were fabulous."

The competition was one to rival the men; as a result of the deep stacks along with tight play, the women didn't get down to 10 players until 5:00 a.m., and it was decided to bring everyone back the next day at 4:00 p.m., rather than try to play through as originally scheduled. "This was a blast," chimed in Carol Jacobson from Whiting, Indiana. "I never had so much fun."

"We hoped our Chicagoland's first-ever World Series of Poker(R) ladies circuit event would be successful," said Rick Mazer, Indiana Regional President and General Manager, Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. "We are so pleased with the tremendous response. The ladies demonstrated such enthusiasm and high-energy."

World Series of Poker(R) at Horseshoe has a total of thirteen tournament events, with buy-ins ranging from $300 up to $5,000 for the no-limit Hold 'em finale. The winner of the $5,000 championship will win cash plus a seat to the World Series of Poker(R) Main Event, valued at $10,000, at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in summer 2009.

Horseshoe Casino's World Series of Poker(R) circuit event schedule follows:

    Friday, October 24
      Event No. 1: Noon-$345 No-Limit Hold 'em (2 day)
            7:00 PM-$235 2nd Chance No-Limit Hold 'em Tournaments
            9:00 PM-$120 Turbo Tournaments

    Saturday, October 25
      Event No. 2: Noon-$555 No-Limit Hold 'em (2 day)
            7:00 PM-$235 2nd Chance No-Limit Hold 'em Tournaments
            9:00 PM-$120 Turbo Tournaments

    Sunday, October 26
      Event No. 3: Noon-$1,100 No-Limit Hold 'em (2 day)
      Event No. 4: 3:00 PM-$235 Ladies Event (1 day)
            7:00 PM-$235 2nd Chance No-Limit Hold 'em Tournaments
            9:00 PM-$120 Turbo Tournaments

    Monday, October 27
      Event No. 5: Noon-$555 No-Limit Hold 'em (2 day)
      Event No. 6: 3:00 PM-$235 PLO with $100 rebuys (1 day)
            7:00 PM-$235 2nd Chance No-Limit Hold 'em Tournaments
            9:00 PM-$120 Turbo Tournaments

    Tuesday, October 28
      Event No. 7: Noon-$775 No-Limit Hold 'em (2 day)
      Event No. 8: 3:00 PM-$345 H.O.R.S.E. (2 day)
            7:00 PM-$235 2nd Chance No-Limit Hold 'em Tournaments
            9:00 PM-$120 Turbo Tournaments

    Wednesday, October 29
      Event No. 9: Noon-$2,100 No-Limit Hold 'em (2 day)
      Event No. 10: 3:00 PM-$345 Omaha-8 (2 day)
            7:00 PM-$235 2nd Chance No-Limit Hold 'em Tournaments
            9:00 PM-$120 Turbo Tournaments

    Thursday, October 30
            Noon-$555 Mega
            3:00 PM-$555 Mega
            7:00 PM-$555 Mega
            9:00 PM-$120 Turbo Tournament

    Friday, October 31
      Event No. 11: Noon-$5,150 No-Limit Hold 'em (3 day)
            7:00 PM-$235 2nd Chance No-Limit Hold 'em Tournaments
            9:00 PM-$120 Turbo Tournaments

    Saturday, November 1
      Event No. 12: Noon-$555 No-Limit Hold 'em (2 day)
            7:00 PM-$235 2nd Chance No-Limit Hold 'em Tournaments
            9:00 PM-$120 Turbo Tournaments

    Sunday, November 2
      Event No. 13: Noon-$345 No-Limit Hold 'em (1 day)
            Time TBA-Main Event Final Table

ABOUT THE WSOP

The World Series of Poker(R) (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker's longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2008, the event attracted more than 58,000 entrants from 124 different countries to the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and awarded more than $180 million in prize money as players competed for the game's most coveted trophy, a WSOP bracelet. Harrah's License Company, LLC., an affiliate of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., has owned and operated the WSOP since 2004 and over the last five years, fostered an increase in player participation by nearly 300-percent. In addition, the WSOP has experienced groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent in 2007 of the World Series of Poker Europe. For more information on the WSOP, please visit http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com.

ABOUT HARRAH'S ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. is the world's largest provider of branded casino entertainment. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, nearly 70 years ago, Harrah's has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casinos on four continents. The company's properties operate primarily under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names; Harrah's also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos. Harrah's Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership. For more information, please visit: http://www.harrahs.com.

Know when to stop before you start.(R) Gambling problem? Call 1.800.9.WITH.IT. (C)2008 Harrah's License Company, LLC.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Leah Eisenstein, XA, The Experiential Agency, 312.239.2339, leah@expagency.com

Amanda Puck, XA, The Experiential Agency, 312.239.2370, amanda@expagency.com