LAS VEGAS -- Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:HET) said it has received approval from the Pennsylvania State Harness Racing Commission to acquire a 50 percent interest in Chester Downs & Marina, L.L.C., an entity licensed to develop a harness-racing facility in southeastern Pennsylvania.


(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021220/LAF055LOGO )


Harrah's and CD&M; have agreed to develop Chester Downs, a 5/8-mile harness racetrack facility approximately six miles south of Philadelphia International Airport. CD&M; is controlled by Pennsylvania businessmen Kevin Flynn, Joseph Lashinger and George Miller.


Upon closing of the transaction, Harrah's will acquire a 50 percent interest in CD&M.; Harrah's and CD&M; expect to finalize the transaction during the third quarter.


Harrah's currently has ownership stakes in five racetracks located in Louisiana, Iowa and Kentucky.


Founded 66 years ago, Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. owns or manages through various subsidiaries 25 casinos in the United States, primarily under the Harrah's brand name. Harrah's Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its valued customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership.


More information about Harrah's Entertainment is available on the company's Web site, www.harrahs.com.


This release includes "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements contain words such as "may," "will," "project," "might," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," "continue" or "pursue," or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. In particular, they include statements relating to, among other things, future actions, new projects, strategies, future performance, the outcome of contingencies such as legal proceedings and future financial results. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events.


We caution the reader that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified and, consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following factors as well as other factors described from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission:


* the effect of economic, credit and capital market conditions on the
economy in general, and on gaming and hotel companies in particular;
* construction factors, including delays, zoning issues, environmental
restrictions, soil and water conditions, weather and other hazards,
site access matters and building permit issues;
* the effects of environmental and structural building conditions
relating to the company's properties;
* our ability to timely and cost effectively integrate into our
operations the companies that we acquire;
* access to available and feasible financing;
* changes in laws (including increased tax rates), regulations or
accounting standards, third-party relations and approvals, and
decisions of courts, regulators and governmental bodies;
* litigation outcomes and judicial actions, including gaming legislative
action, referenda and taxation;
* ability of our customer-tracking, customer-loyalty and
yield-management programs to continue to increase customer loyalty and
same-store sales;
* our ability to recoup costs of capital investments through higher
revenues;
* acts of war or terrorist incidents;
* abnormal gaming holds, and
* the effects of competition, including locations of competitors and
operating and market competition.


Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.


Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021220/LAF055LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.

CONTACT: Investors, Brad Belhouse, +1-702-407-6367, or Media, Gary
Thompson, +1-702-407-6529, both of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.


Web site: http://www.harrahs.com/

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