Full House Resorts Announces Three and Nine Months Results for the Period Ended September 30, 2009

Record Quarterly Earnings per Share Driven by Successful FireKeepers Casino

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Full House Resorts (NYSE Amex US: FLL) today announced results for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2009. Net income attributable to the Company for the three months ended September 30, 2009 was $3.0 million, or $0.17 per common share, compared to $0.5 million, or $0.03 per common share, in the prior-year period.

Third Quarter 2009 Highlights and Subsequent Events

    --  Total management fees for Gaming Entertainment (Michigan), LLC ("GEM"),
        a 50% owned joint venture - related to FireKeepers Casino - were $5.8
        million. The property opened its doors to the public on August 5, ahead
        of schedule and under budget, providing for 57 days of operations in the
        third quarter. A soft opening allowed for lower marketing expense,
        resulting in strong operating margins. GEM manages the daily operations
        of the casino for the FireKeepers Development Authority, an agency of
        the Huron Band, and will be paid a management fee equal to 26% of
        pre-management fee income over a seven-year period which commenced with
        the opening on August 5.
    --  The Company entered into a favorable GEM member agreement which resulted
        in a one-time net gain of $1.4 million before tax -- further details are
        outlined below. The after-tax impact of this one-time gain was $0.05 per
        common share.
    --  As of September 30, 2009, the company had cash and equivalents of $7.8
        million, debt of $6.5 million - of which $5.8 million is an obligation
        of GEM - and availability on the company's credit facility of
        approximately $7.8 million.

"The first two months of operations at FireKeepers Casino exceeded our expectations in terms of revenue and operating margins, and we are very proud of the work accomplished by the management team," said Andre Hilliou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Full House. "An efficient, customer-friendly designed property as well as an exceptionally smooth opening with no significant problems allowed the management team to run FireKeepers at near normal efficiency levels right out of the box. In addition, we continue to generate free cash flow, while the Company continues to have no required current debt repayments or maturities, putting us in a strong position to take advantage of acquisition opportunities going forward."

Third Quarter 2009 Results

For the quarter ended September 30, 2009, Full House reported casino, food and beverage, and other revenue of $2.2 million, a decline of 11% from the prior-year period, primarily caused by lower casino revenue at Stockman's Casino due to general weakness in the economy and increased food and beverage competition. In addition, during the third quarter of 2009, Full House recorded GEM management fees of $5.8 million for the first 57 days of operations following the opening on August 5 of FireKeepers Casino.

The Company recorded equity in net income of unconsolidated joint venture and related guaranteed payments of $1.5 million, an increase of 6% from the prior-year period. The equity in net income of unconsolidated joint venture represents Full House's 50% ownership interest in Gaming Entertainment (Delaware), LLC ("GED"), a joint venture between the Company and Harrington Raceway, Inc. The Company expects to continue receiving a 5% increase in cash distributions over the prior year from GED. The increase this quarter is due to the timing of cash payments.

Operating expenses for third quarter 2009 were $3.6 million, an increase of 18% from the prior-year period, primarily due to an increase in SG&A expenses and amortization of contract rights related to the opening of FireKeepers Casino.

Operating income for third quarter 2009 was $3.9 million, compared to operating income of $0.9 million in the prior-year period. The 2009 results include an unrealized gain on notes receivable from tribal governments of $0.2 million, compared to a gain of $0.1 million in third quarter 2008. The 2009 results also include results from a GEM member agreement resulting in the recognition of a one-time net pre-tax gain of $1.4 million. The net pre-tax gain consists of a member agreement modification charge of $2.1 million, offset by a $3.5 million credit attributable to the non-controlling interest in GEM.

The Company reported net income attributable to the Company per common share of $0.17 for the three months ended September 30, 2009, as compared to $0.03 for the three months ended September 30, 2008. Exclusive of the one-time GEM agreement net gain of $0.05 per share, earnings per common share would have been $0.12.

Nine Month 2009 Results

For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, Full House reported casino, food and beverage, and other revenue of $6.8 million, compared to revenue of $7.4 million in the prior-year period, primarily as a result of lower food and beverage revenue at Stockman's Casino due to increased competition and lower casino revenue due to general weakness in the economy.

In addition, during the first nine months of 2009, Full House recorded GEM management fees of $5.8 million from FireKeepers Casino.

The Company recorded equity in net income of unconsolidated joint venture and related guarantee payments of $3.6 million, comparable with the prior-year period. Management expects that 2009 full-year results for GED will be lower than the 5% guaranteed increase due to payment timing variances which resulted in greater than an 8% increase in 2008. The reduced income is attributable to the decreased net income of GED which the Company recognizes under the equity method. GED's reduced net income is mostly attributable to increased competition and higher costs, including recently enacted tax increases.

Operating expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 were $9.3 million compared to $9.5 million in the prior-year period, primarily due to continuing expense reduction efforts throughout the organization and lower food and beverage costs, partially offset by higher depreciation and amortization expense related to contract rights for FireKeepers Casino.

Operating income, excluding other charges, for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was $5.2 million, compared to operating income, excluding other charges, of $3.4 million in the prior-year period. The 2009 operating income includes $0.5 million of unrealized gains on notes receivable from tribal governments compared to $2.0 million in the prior-year period, with the year-over-year decrease primarily due to the repayment of $9.3 million of notes receivable related to the FireKeepers Casino, in connection with the FireKeepers Development Authority obtaining financing for the project in the prior year. The 2009 results also include a GEM member agreement modification charge of $2.1 million as explained previously.

The Company reported net income attributable to the Company per common share of $0.21 and $0.08 for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, respectively. Excluding other charges in the first nine months of both 2009 and 2008, and exclusive of the one-time gain on notes receivable in the first nine months of 2008 due to the repayment of the tribal receivable and the GEM member agreement net gain in 2009, net income attributable to the Company per common share was $0.16 and $0.05 for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, respectively.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of September 30, 2009, the company had $7.8 million in cash and approximately $7.8 million of availability on its revolving credit line with Nevada State Bank. Debt outstanding as of September 30, 2009 was $6.5 million, of which $5.8 million is an obligation of GEM. The Company has no required principal payments on its Nevada State Bank facility until 2021.

On October 9, 2009, effective September 30, 2009, an agreement was reached between the Company and RAM Entertainment, LLC ("RAM"), both 50% members of GEM. As a result, payables due from GEM to each member were adjusted to reflect a total payable due to RAM of $8.5 million, and a total payable due to the Company of $11.9 million, resulting in the recognition of a net pre-tax gain $1.4 million, which was recorded in September 2009. The net pre-tax gain consists of a member agreement modification charge of $2.1 million, offset by a $3.5 million credit attributable to the GEM non-controlling interest.

The impact to reported earnings per share from these one-time adjustment items to GEM was approximately $0.05 per share.

In addition, the GEM members agreed that distributions to the members will be made on a 50/50 basis to both members until such time RAM's member payable has been fully repaid and thereafter 70% to the Company and 30% to RAM until such time as the remaining payable to the Company has been repaid. Thereafter, distributions to members will be made on a 50/50 basis.

Conference Call Information

The Company will host a conference call and webcast on Tuesday, November 10th at 9:30 a.m. EST. Both the call and webcast are open to the general public.

The conference call number is 877-941-8418; international callers can access the call by dialing 1-480-629-9809. Please call five minutes in advance to ensure that you are connected prior to the presentation. Interested parties may also access the live call on the Internet at http://www.fullhouseresorts.com (select Investor Relations and then Upcoming Events). Please log-on fifteen minutes in advance to ensure that you are connected prior to the call's initiation. Questions and answers will be reserved for call-in analysts and investors. Following its completion, a replay of the call can be accessed for one week on the Internet at the above link or by calling either 800-406-7325 or 1-303-590-3030 and providing pass code 4181220.


Selected unaudited Statements of Operations (from continuing operations) data
for the three months ended September 30,

2009             Casino Operations  Development/   Corporate       Consolidated
                                    Management

Revenues         $ 2,164,316        $ 5,753,167    $ --            $ 7,917,483

Selling,
general and        436,448            138,400        1,181,343       1,756,191
administrative
expense

Depreciation
and                240,039            399,886        22,285          662,210
amortization

Operating gains    --                 (434,042  )    --              (434,042  )
(loss)

Operating          437,289            4,758,586      (1,289,499 )    3,906,376
income (loss)

Net income
(loss)             437,666            5,748,444      (3,138,102 )    3,048,008
attributable to
Company

2008             Casino Operations  Development/   Corporate       Consolidated
                                    Management

Revenues         $ 2,441,587        $ --           $ 1,400         $ 2,442,987

Selling,
general and        480,799            135,155        918,164         1,534,118
administrative
expense

Depreciation
and                271,413            14,364         21,112          306,889
amortization

Operating gains    --                 1,509,524      --              1,509,524

Operating          549,481            1,347,816      (988,080   )    909,217
income (loss)

Net income
(loss)             551,049            1,281,344      (1,292,720 )    539,673
attributable to
Company




Selected unaudited Statements of Operations (from continuing operations) data
for the nine months ended September 30,

2009               Casino Operations  Development/  Corporate       Consolidated
                                      Management

Revenues           $ 6,849,056        $ 5,753,167   $ --            $ 12,602,223

Selling, general
and                  1,285,006          394,873       3,125,280       4,805,159
administrative
expense

Depreciation and     743,701            426,836       63,206          1,233,743
amortization

Operating gains      --                 1,921,803     --              1,921,803

Operating income     1,665,741          6,802,654     (3,277,016 )    5,191,379
(loss)

Net income (loss)
attributable to      1,665,557          7,674,564     (5,588,948 )    3,751,173
Company

2008               Casino Operations  Development/  Corporate       Consolidated
                                      Management

Revenues           $ 7,393,124        $ --          $ 1,458         $ 7,394,582

Selling, general
and                  1,386,315          316,936       3,162,959       4,866,210
administrative
expense

Depreciation and     810,696            43,092        48,335          902,123
amortization

Operating gains      --                 5,455,990     --              5,455,990

Operating income     1,628,562          5,014,461     (3,261,358 )    3,381,665
(loss)

Net income (loss)
attributable to      1,657,797          4,186,284     (4,270,318 )    1,611,905
Company




Reconciliation of EBITDA before unrealized gains on notes receivable, tribal
governments, for the three months ended September 30,

Quarter ended                        Development /
September 30,     Casino Operations  Management     Corporate       Consolidated
2009

Operating income  $ 437,289          $ 4,758,586    $ (1,289,499 )  $ 3,906,376
(loss)

Add Back:

Member agreement    -                  2,147,327      -               2,147,327
modification

Depreciation and    240,039            399,886        22,285          662,210
amortization

Deduct:

Unrealized gain
on notes
receivable,         -                  248,641        -               248,641
tribal
governments

Other               -                  4,669          -               4,669

EBITDA before
unrealized gain   $ 677,328          $ 7,052,489    $ (1,267,214 )  $ 6,462,603
on tribal
advances

Quarter ended                        Development /
September 30,     Casino Operations  Management     Corporate       Consolidated
2008

Operating income  $ 549,481          $ 1,347,814    $ (988,078   )  $ 909,217
(loss)

Add Back:

Depreciation and    271,413            14,364         21,112          306,889
amortization

Deduct:

Unrealized gain
on notes
receivable,         -                  137,356        -               137,356
tribal
governments

EBITDA before
unrealized gain   $ 820,894          $ 1,224,822    $ (966,966   )  $ 1,078,750
on tribal
advances




FULL HOUSE RESORTS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

                     Three months                  Nine months

                     ended September 30,           ended September 30,

                     2009           2008           2009           2008

Revenues

Casino               $ 1,703,289    $ 1,923,795    $ 5,458,520    $ 5,688,308

Food and beverage      442,224        498,175        1,331,848      1,633,989

Management fees        5,753,167      ---            5,753,167      ---

Other                  18,803         21,017         58,688         72,285

                       7,917,483      2,442,987      12,602,223     7,394,582

Operating costs and
expenses               558,702        540,393        1,698,096      1,812,731

Casino

Food and beverage      491,838        599,502        1,456,511      1,754,819

Project development    108,124        62,392         139,138        133,024
costs

Selling, general       1,756,191      1,534,118      4,805,159      4,866,210
and administrative

Depreciation and       662,210        306,889        1,233,743      902,123
amortization

                       3,577,065      3,043,294      9,332,647      9,468,907

Operating gains
(losses)

Equity in net
income of
unconsolidated         1,459,975      1,372,168      3,551,852      3,566,950
joint venture, and
related guaranteed
payments

Unrealized gains on
notes receivable,      248,641        137,356        542,610        1,974,040
tribal governments

Member agreement       (2,147,327 )   ---            (2,147,327 )   ---
modification

Other                  4,669          ---            (25,332    )   (85,000    )

                       (434,042   )   1,509,524      1,921,803      5,455,990

Operating income       3,906,376      909,217        5,191,379      3,381,665

Other income
(expense)

Interest and other     112,848        33,196         148,438        128,873
income

Interest expense       (48,408    )   (122,381   )   (195,570   )   (420,767   )

Income from
continuing             3,970,816      820,032        5,144,247      3,089,771
operations before
income taxes

Income taxes           (1,735,797 )   (374,865   )   (2,327,022 )   (1,035,268 )

Income from
continuing             2,235,019      445,167        2,817,225      2,054,503
operations net of
income taxes

Income from
discontinued
operations, net of     ---            ---            ---            38,142
income taxes of
$23,377 in 2008

Net income             2,235,019      445,167        2,817,225      2,092,645

Loss (income)
attributable to
non-controlling        812,989        94,506         933,948        (480,740   )
interest in
consolidated joint
venture

Net income
attributable to the  $ 3,048,008    $ 539,673      $ 3,751,173    $ 1,611,905
Company

Income from
continuing
operations
attributable to the
Company per common
share

Basic and diluted    $ 0.17         $ 0.03         $ 0.21         $ 0.08

Income from
discontinued
operations
attributable to the
Company per common
share

Basic and diluted      ---            ---            ---          $ 0.00

Net income
attributable to the
Company per common
share

Basic and diluted    $ 0.17         $ 0.03         $ 0.21         $ 0.08

Weighted-average
number of common
shares outstanding

Basic and diluted      18,001,681     19,332,356     18,033,323     19,338,969

Amounts
attributable to the
Company:

Income from
continuing           $ 3,048,008    $ 539,673      $ 3,751,173    $ 1,573,763
operations, net of
tax

Income from
discontinued           --             --             --             38,142
operations, net of
tax

Net income
attributable to the  $ 3,048,008    $ 539,673      $ 3,751,173    $ 1,611,905
Company

Disclosures necessary to conform to GAAP and SEC Regulations S-X have been
omitted.



About Full House Resorts, Inc.

Full House owns, develops and manages gaming facilities. Full House owns the Stockman's Casino in Fallon, Nevada which has 8,400 square feet of gaming space with approximately 265 gaming machines, four table games and a keno game. The casino has a bar, a fine dining restaurant and a coffee shop. Full House also receives a guaranteed fee from the operation of Harrington Raceway and Casino at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, Delaware. Harrington Raceway and Casino has a total of approximately 2,100 gaming devices, a buffet, gourmet steakhouse, other food and beverage outlets and an entertainment lounge. Full House also has an agreement with the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians for the management of the recently opened FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan with 2,680 gaming devices, 78 table games and a 120-seat poker room. For further information, go to www.FireKeepersCasino.com. In addition, Full House has been working with the Northern Cheyenne Nation of Montana for the development and management of a gaming facility on tribal land. Further information about Full House Resorts can be viewed on its web site at www.fullhouseresorts.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Some of the statements made in this release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Full House's current expectations and projections about future events and generally relate to Full House's plans, objectives and expectations for Full House's business. Although Full House's management believes that the plans and objectives expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, the outcome of such plans, objectives and expectations involve risks and uncertainties including without limitation, regulatory approvals, financing sources and terms, integration of acquisitions, competition and business conditions in the gaming industry. Additional information concerning potential factors that could affect Full House's financial condition and results of operations is included in the reports Full House files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.

For the foregoing reasons, readers and investors are cautioned that there also can be no assurance that the outcomes expressed in Full House's forward-looking statements included in this release and otherwise will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in such forward-looking statements, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation or warranty by Full House or any other person that Full House's objectives and plans will be achieved in any specified time frame, if at all. Full House does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or to announce revisions to any forward-looking statements.


    Source: Full House Resorts