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Penn National Appoints Jay Snowden as Senior Vice President of Regional Operations

Mr. Snowden joins Penn National from Caesars Entertainment, where he acquired significant gaming industry management experience over 12 years in several regional and destination markets, including Nevada, California, Missouri, and New Jersey. Since 2010, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of both Caesars Atlantic City and Harrah's Resort Atlantic City. Mr. Snowden began his career with Caesars in 1998 with a financial planning and analysis role prior to being named Slot Performance Manager at Harrah's Las Vegas. In 2000, he assisted in the design and development of Harrah's Rincon in San Diego before becoming that property's Vice President and Assistant General Manager upon opening. In 2003, he became Vice President and Assistant General Manager of Harrah's St. Louis and, soon thereafter, was named acting Senior Vice President and General Manager. In 2005, he was appointed Senior Vice President and General Manager of Showboat Atlantic City, where he oversaw construction of a $65 million expansion project, and was given additional responsibility as Senior Vice President and General Manager at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City in 2008.

Commenting on the appointment, Timothy Wilmott said, "We are very pleased to have Jay join our team at this exciting time of growth for Penn National Gaming. With our near-term acquisition of M Resort, the planned opening in the first quarter of 2012 of Hollywood Casino Kansas and Hollywood Casino Toledo and scheduled opening in the second half of 2012 of Hollywood Casino Columbus, Jay brings us the necessary additional bandwidth to manage our expanding base of operations.

"Under the leadership of both John and Tom, our regional operations management structure has proven effective in ensuring positive guest experiences at our facilities and promoting career advancement opportunities for our employees. We are confident that Jay's career background and record of success in the gaming industry will further improve our regional operations management team and strengthen Penn National's commitment to delivering great gaming entertainment to our customers."

Mr. Snowden earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and an Executive Masters in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

About Penn National Gaming

Penn National Gaming owns, operates or has ownership interests in gaming and racing facilities with a focus on slot machine entertainment. The Company presently operates twenty-five facilities in seventeen jurisdictions, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Ontario. In aggregate, Penn National's operated facilities feature over 27,000 gaming machines, over 500 table games, over 2,000 hotel rooms and over 1 million square feet of gaming floor space.

Through a joint venture, Penn National is developing a full casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, which is anticipated to open in the first half of 2012, and is also developing casinos in Toledo and Columbus, Ohio, with openings targeted for 2012. In October 2010, Penn National purchased all of the outstanding debt of The M Resort LLC. The M Resort Spa Casino is situated on over 90 acres on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard. Penn National recently entered into an asset purchase agreement with M Resort's equity owners that will allow the Company to convert its debt ownership into full equity, subject to, among other things, regulatory approvals.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may vary materially from expectations. Penn describes certain of these risks and uncertainties in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010. Meaningful factors which could cause actual results to differ from expectations described in this press release include, but are not limited to: the passage of state, federal or local legislation (including referenda) that would expand, restrict, further tax, prevent or negatively impact operations in the jurisdictions in which we do business (such as a smoking ban at any of our facilities) or in jurisdictions in which we intend to do business; our ability to receive, or delays in obtaining, the regulatory approvals required to own, develop and/or operate our facilities, or other delays or impediments to completing our planned acquisitions or projects, including favorable resolution of any related litigation; our ability to secure state and local permits and approvals necessary for construction; the activities of our competitors and the emergence of new competitors; construction factors, including delays, unexpected remediation costs, local opposition and increased cost of labor and materials; the costs and risks involved in the pursuit of development opportunities; the availability and cost of financing; the effects of local and national economic, credit, capital market, housing, energy conditions on the economy in general and on the gaming and lodging industries in particular; our relations and agreements with horsemen, pari-mutuel clerks and other organized labor groups and other factors as discussed in the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Furthermore, the Company does not intend to update publicly any forward-looking statements except as required by law. The cautionary advice in this paragraph is permitted by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Penn National Gaming, Inc.
Eric Schippers, 610-373-2400
Senior Vice President, Public Affairs
or
Jaffoni & Collins Incorporated
Joseph N. Jaffoni / Richard Land, 212-835-8500
penn@jcir.com