These earnings were achieved at a time when Pinnacle, as well as other developers, faced an increase in development and construction costs, corporate costs, and other write-off and miscellaneous charges, though these costs were offset by an increase in capitalized interest and an income tax benefit that resulted from a prior years' tax-related settlement.

Pinnacle also pushed many developments into and through the pipeline during this quarter, resulting in significant progress to: the $507-million Lumiere Place casino hotel that is set to open in Downtown St. Louis, on Dec. 19; the 565 acres of land in Baton Rouge, LA, that the company is prepping for hotel and gaming entertainment projects called Riviere and Casino Riviere; and the former site of the Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City that was imploded on Oct. 18 to make way for a larger casino resort that the company anticipates will open in late 2011 or early 2012.

The company's Q3 profits also reflect the gains from Pinnacle's December 2006 acquisition of the President Riverboat Casino in Downtown St. Louis, and a record quarter at L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, LA, which is undergoing a 250-guestroom expansion. L'Auberge generated $84.5 million in revenue during the third quarter, resulting in a 6.7% increase over the $79.2 million it achieved at the same time last year.