Harrah's Entertainment completed its

$625 million purchase of Harveys

Casino Resorts on Tuesday, giving

the Las Vegas company a second

major property in the South Lake

Tahoe gambling market.

Harrah's also acquires two casinos

in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and one in Central City,

Colo., with the purchase.

The transaction, which includes the assumption of

$50 million of off-balance-sheet obligations,

extends Harrah's Total Rewards loyalty card to 1.7

million customers in western Iowa and eastern

Nebraska. Total Rewards has more than 23 million

names in its database.

Harrah's operates 25 casinos with the Harrah's,

Showboat, Rio and Harveys brand names,

including Harrah's Lake Tahoe.

Shares of Harrah's were up 22 cents Tuesday on

the New York Stock Exchange to close at $28.62.

Hard Rock reports

profits up 188 percent

The amount of money gamblers spent on casino chips

at the Hard Rock's gaming tables jumped 20 percent to

$68.2 million during the quarter ended June 30,

according to figures released Tuesday by Hard Rock

Hotel Inc.

The increased table games drop contributed to a

188 percent jump in profits for the Harmon Avenue

casino to $2.3 million and a 4 percent increase in

net revenues to $32.7 million, according to a filing

with the federal Securities and Exchange

Commission.

Cash flow, a commonly used measure of casino

industry profitability, was up 16 percent to $9.3

million for the privately held hotel, which has

publicly traded debt, prompting the SEC filing.

Despite the improved table drop, the casino

actually lost a greater percentage of bets placed

by gamblers on the games.

The property's net revenues would have increased

to $35.6 million, or 13 percent, had the hold

percentage been the same as last year's figure,

according to the company, which did not release

either year's figure