Park Place Entertainment Corporation (NYSE:PPE), one of the world`s leading gaming companies, today announced the appointment of industry veteran Bill Joyce as vice president of legal and regulatory affairs and business opportunity for the company`s Mid-South Region.
The region includes seven casino resorts in Indiana, Louisiana and Mississippi operated under the Caesars, Bally`s, Grand Casinos and Sheraton brands. Together, Park Place`s Mid-South properties employ nearly 12,000 associates with an annual payroll of more than $150 million.
In addition to his legal and regulatory duties, Joyce will be responsible for expanding business opportunities for minority- and women-owned suppliers and vendors throughout the region. Joyce previously served as vice president of legal and regulatory affairs for Caesars Indiana, a riverboat casino located just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.
“As a former Philadelphia police officer, an investigator for the Pennsylvania Attorney General`s office and an equal opportunity specialist for the U.S. Department of Education, Bill Joyce has an intimate knowledge of the complexities of the law and gaming regulation,” said Park Place Executive Vice President and General Counsel Bernard E. DeLury, Jr. “With over a decade of casino industry experience under his belt, Bill is the right one to take on these important new responsibilities,” DeLury added.
“At Park Place, we`ve made major strides in expanding opportunities for women- and minority-owned businesses, but we still have much to accomplish,” Joyce said. “In addition to attending to my legal and regulatory responsibilities, I intend to spend much of my time seeking ways to make our procurement process more inclusive so that our roster of vendors will reflect the diversity of our workforce and our customer base.”
In addition to announcing Joyce`s appointment, DeLury also said the company has promoted Mid-South Associate Counsel Anthony Del Vescovo to the position of executive director, corporate counsel for the region. A graduate of Louisiana State University and Southern University Law School, Del Vescovo previously worked on the legal staff of Grand Casino Biloxi. He is a native of Newark, New Jersey.
Before joining Caesars Indiana in July 2000, Joyce served as associate counsel for Harrah`s Showboat casino in Atlantic City for four years. Previously, he spent 14 years at Resorts International in Atlantic City in a variety of roles, culminating in his appointment as associate counsel and director of diversity.
Earlier, he worked as an equal opportunity specialist for the U.S. Department of Education in Philadelphia, as a civil rights investigator for the Pennsylvania Attorney General and as a Philadelphia police officer. He also served in the United States Coast Guard.
Born in Lester, West Virginia, Joyce was raised in Philadelphia. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law, and Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Antioch University in Philadelphia.
Married with two grown children, Joyce and his wife are relocating from Indiana to Gulfport, Mississippi, where Park Place has its regional corporate office.
About Park Place Entertainment

—Park Place Entertainment Corporation (NYSE:PPE) is one of the world`s leading gaming companies. Park Place owns, manages or has an interest in 29 gaming properties operating under the Caesars, Bally`s, Flamingo, Grand Casinos, Hilton and Paris brand names with a total of approximately two million square feet of gaming space, 29,000 hotel rooms and 54,000 employees worldwide. The company plans to change its name to Caesars Entertainment, Inc. in January 2004, when it will begin trading under the new ticker symbol (NYSE:CZR).
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