EXHIBIT 99(1)

        Frank Biondi, Jr. Joins Harrah's Entertainment Board Of Directors

         LAS VEGAS, May 3, 2002 - Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:HET)
announced today that Frank J. Biondi Jr., Senior Managing Director of WaterView
Advisors LLC, a private equity fund specializing in media, has been appointed to
serve on the Harrah's Entertainment Board of Directors, subject to regulatory
approvals.

         Biondi previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of
Universal Studios and was a director of The Seagram Company Ltd. He is former
president, CEO and a director of Viacom, Inc., and ex-chairman and CEO of
Coca-Cola Television. Earlier in his career, Biondi was chairman and CEO of Home
Box Office, Inc.

         Biondi is a director of The Bank of New York; Amgen, Inc.; Hasbro,
Inc.; Vail Resorts, Inc; The Museum of Television and Radio, and The
International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is a founding member of the University of
Southern California's Board of Councilors of the School of Cinema-Television and
is on the board of advisors for The Annenberg School for Communications at USC.
He received a B.A. from Princeton University and M.B.A. from Harvard University
Graduate School of Business Administration.

         "We are very pleased that Frank has joined our board," said Phil Satre,
Harrah's Entertainment Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "His vision, energy
and experience as the top executive of leading entertainment companies will be
invaluable to Harrah's Entertainment."

         Biondi is one of nine outside directors on the 11-member Harrah's
board. Satre and Gary Loveman, Harrah's Entertainment President and Chief
Operating Officer, are the two company representatives on the board.

         Founded in 1937, Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. operates 25 casinos in
the United States, primarily under the Harrah's brand name. Harrah's
Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its target customers
through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed
distribution, operational excellence and technological leadership. More
information about Harrah's Entertainment is available on the company's Web site,
WWW.HARRAHS.COM.