Caesars Completes Sale of Bally's New Orleans to Columbia Sussex Corporation.

LAS VEGAS -- Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: CZR) today announced that it has completed the sale of Bally's Casino New Orleans to an affiliate of Columbia Sussex Corporation, a hotel, resort and casino operator based in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, for approximately $24 million.

The closing of the sale followed a unanimous decision by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, sitting in Baton Rouge, to approve the transfer of the Bally's New Orleans gaming license from Caesars to the Columbia Sussex affiliate.

"We are excited about the Bally's Casino New Orleans acquisition. We think it provides a great opportunity in the New Orleans market and we plan significant improvements and changes to the property," said William Yung, President of Columbia Sussex Corporation.

Under the terms of the agreement, Columbia Sussex will purchase certain assets of Bally's Casino New Orleans, and will assume certain related current liabilities. Caesars expects to report no material gain or loss on the transaction. Libra Securities was the exclusive financial advisor to Caesars on the transaction.

About Columbia Sussex

Columbia Sussex and its affiliates are one of the largest privately held hotel owners in the country, and one of Marriott Corporation's top licensees. Columbia Sussex and its affiliates operate 64 hotels, resorts and casinos in 28 states and overseas, including the Lighthouse Point Casino in Greenville, Mississippi, the Horizon Casino Resort in South Lake Tahoe and the Westin Casuarina property on Grand Cayman Island. It has also recently opened the Westin Casuarina in Las Vegas, and purchased the River Palms Casino in Laughlin, Nevada.

About Caesars Entertainment

Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: CZR) is one of the world's leading gaming companies. With annual revenue of $4.2 billion, 21 properties on three continents, more than 25,000 hotel rooms, two million square feet of casino space and 50,000 employees, the Caesars portfolio is among the strongest in the industry. Caesars casino resorts operate under the Caesars, Bally's, Flamingo, Grand Casinos, Hilton and Paris brand names. The company has its corporate headquarters in Las Vegas.

The company's Board of Directors in July 2004 accepted an offer from Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. to acquire the company for approximately $1.9 billion in cash and 67.9 million shares of Harrah's common stock. Shareholders of both companies approved the merger in separate meetings on March 11, 2005. The transaction is contingent on approval by federal and state regulatory agencies and is expected to close on June 13, 2005.

Additional information on Caesars Entertainment can be accessed through the company's web site at www.caesars.com.

Safe Harbor 

This document 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, strategies, future performance, and future financial results of Caesars and Harrah's anticipated acquisition of Caesars. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events.

Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified and, consequently, the actual performance or results of Caesars 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 SEC (including the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" contained therein): financial community and rating agency perceptions of Caesars, the effects 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 our properties; the ability to timely and cost-effectively consummate Harrah's acquisition of Caesars and integrate Caesars properties into Harrah's operations; the loss of Caesars personnel in connection with Harrah's acquisition of Caesars; access to available and feasible financing, including financing for Harrah's acquisition of Caesars, on a timely basis; 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; the ability of our customer-tracking, customer loyalty and yield-management programs to continue to increase customer loyalty and revenue; 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. Caesars disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date stated, or if no date is stated, as of the date of this press release.