General Manager Named for Bullwhackers Casinos

BLACK HAWK, Colorado -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Penn National Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) announced today that, subject to securing all necessary regulatory approvals, Amy McHale has been named General Manager of the Company's Bullwhackers Casinos in Black Hawk, Colorado. Ms. McHale replaces Thomas Burke who was recently named General Manager at Penn National's Argosy Casino Riverside. To reflect the assumption of additional responsibilities, Bullwhackers' Director of Gaming Operations, Bruce Lowder, has been named Assistant General Manager at the property.

In her new role, Ms. McHale will assume responsibility for all facets of Bullwhackers' operations, including Bullwhackers Casino, The Bullpen Casino and Silver Hawk Casino. Ms. McHale will report directly to Penn National's Executive Vice President, Operations, Len DeAngelo.

Amy McHale brings over twelve years of gaming industry experience to her position as General Manager of Bullwhackers Casinos. She joined Penn National in February 2003 as Director of Marketing for Bullwhackers, overseeing strategic planning, budgeting, events, advertising, public relations, database management, players club and player development. In addition, since January 2004, she has also been responsible for Human Resources at the property. Prior to joining Penn National Gaming, Ms. McHale served as the Director of Marketing for Ameristar Casino St. Charles where she played a key role in the design, development and opening of their $360 million casino and entertainment facility. Before moving to the St. Louis, Missouri area, Ms. McHale also held Marketing positions at Station Casino Kansas City and Argosy Casino Riverside, both located in Kansas City, Missouri.

Bruce Lowder has nineteen years of experience in the gaming and hospitality industry and since 2003 had served as Director of Gaming Operations of Bullwhackers Casinos. Prior to joining Penn National, Mr. Lowder was the Director of Finance at Station Casino Kansas City and President Casino in Davenport, Iowa and also served as Financial Controller for the President Casino on the Admiral in St. Louis. Mr. Lowder is a certified public accountant and has held accounting positions at Gateway Riverboat Cruises, Petrolite Corp (a multi-national oil and gas company) and a regional public accounting firm in Illinois.

"We are pleased to announce the appointments of Amy and Bruce to their new leadership positions at Bullwhackers," stated Len DeAngelo, Executive Vice President, Operations of Penn National Gaming. "Both are talented executives with proven track records in the Black Hawk market as well as several other regional gaming markets. With Amy's tremendous history of marketing successes and Bruce's relevant operations and finance experience, we are confident that these two seasoned executives will effectively apply their breadth of talents to create the best possible gaming experience for Bullwhackers patrons."