In 2003, Sanfilippo helped incorporate the three Horseshoe Gaming casinos into Harrah's Entertainment following a $1.4 billion buyout. Two years later, Sanfilippo played a similar role in merging casinos into the company when Harrah's bought Caesars Entertainment Inc. for $9 billion, the largest gaming industry merger in history. During the Pinnacle-Ameristar merger, the buying company worked to mitigate the worries of skittish employees, who were involved in just the second major gaming buyout since the recession hit. Two years earlier, Boyd Gaming Corp. bought regional company Peninsula Gaming for $1.45 billion. "We interviewed all employees and we selected the best individual who was the best fit in the new, larger company," Sanfilippo said. Pinnacle also decided to not eliminate the Ameristar name from casinos.