Harrah's Looks for Poker Face

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – (PRESS RELEASE) -- The world's richest sporting event seeks stoic, emotionally detached man or woman to fill role of spokesperson. Eager, energetic candidates need not apply.

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: HET), which owns and operates the World Series of Poker, is launching a national search to find the ultimate poker face to star in commercials promoting the tournament's coverage on ESPN. The first auditions will be held Jan. 17 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Eden Lounge and Sapphire Bar at Harrah's Atlantic City.

The auditions will take place during the first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit event, which began Jan. 7 and concludes Jan. 18.

The new commercial will be the second "poker face" spot to run on ESPN. The first ad depicts a man maintaining a perfectly nonplussed expression while an interviewer asks him to react to both fantastic and horrible news. The new spot will build on the initial concept by depicting not only the ultimate poker face, but also outtakes from auditions in which people could not maintain stoic expressions under humorous interview conditions.

"The response to the first ad has been tremendous," said Ginny Shanks, Harrah's senior vice president of acquisition marketing. "Hosting auditions for a new spot at each of our World Series of Poker Circuit events will allow us to involve a huge number of poker enthusiasts in the development of the commercial and build interest in it before it ever airs."

Subsequent poker face auditions will be held at World Series of Poker events at Harrah's Rincon outside San Diego, Harrah's New Orleans, Harrah's Lake Tahoe and the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Audition dates for those events have not been finalized.

At least one person at each audition will be chosen as a finalist to appear in the spot.

Various subsidiaries of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. own or manage 28 casinos in the United States, primarily under the Harrah's and Horseshoe brand names. Founded 67 years ago, 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.

Additional information about Harrah's Entertainment is available at http://www.harrahs.com.