Park Place Entertainment Corporation (NYSE:PPE) today announced that Wallace R. Barr, executive vice president, co-chief operating officer and president of the company’s Eastern Casino Group, has been named the gaming company’s sole chief operating officer responsible for operations at all of Park Place’s 29 owned and managed casinos and resorts worldwide, effective immediately. Mark R. Dodson, executive vice president, co-chief operating officer and president of the company’s Western Casino Group, has resigned to pursue other business opportunities.
Thomas E. Gallagher, Park Place’s president and chief executive officer, said the new management structure is a further step in the company’s strategy of realizing potential operating synergies and creating a unified corporate culture for Park Place’s operations worldwide. “We appreciate Mark’s dedication and his many contributions to Park Place,” Gallagher said. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Commenting on Barr’s new role, Gallagher said, “Under Wally’s leadership, our Atlantic City operations have consistently delivered world-class results. Having known Wally for 12 years, both as a competitor and a colleague, I’m confident that Park Place will benefit company-wide from his talent and experience.”

Barr, 55, previously had overseen Park Place’s gaming operations in the eastern and southern United States, including the company’s 11 casinos in New Jersey, Mississippi, Indiana and Louisiana, as well as the company’s international operations, which include casinos in Australia, Canada, South Africa and South America.

In his 28 years in the gaming industry, Barr has served in numerous executive capacities and jurisdictions, including Nevada, New Jersey, Mississippi, Louisiana and Indiana. From 1993 to 1996, he served as chief operating officer of Bally’s Casino Holdings, including the Bally casinos in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Reno.

Following the acquisition of Bally Entertainment Corporation by Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1996, Barr served as executive vice president of the combined Hilton and Bally casino group. Upon the creation of Park Place following its spin-off from Hilton in 1998, he took over responsibility for all of the Park Place casinos in the United States other than Nevada, and in early 2001 added supervision of the Company’s international operations.

Park Place Entertainment is the world’s largest gaming company. It owns, operates or has an interest in 29 gaming properties operating under the Bally’s, Caesars, Flamingo, Grand Casinos and Hilton brand names with a total of approximately 2 million square feet of gaming space, more than 28,000 hotel rooms, and approximately 60,000 employees worldwide.

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