Will joining the RE, Gaming, Lodging, Leisure group at a BB limit my PE exit opps?

I'll try my best to answer this at least from what I've observed / friends who worked in RE banking.

Of all "specialized" groups, i.e. FIG, Natural Resources, Real Estate, Real Estate is the one that I've seen to be the most limiting in terms of exits, i.e. to pigeon hole people the most. From the better banks / groups, you see people moving from FIG banking and NatRes banking (NY, not usually Houston) to generalist PE roles in relatively large numbers, i.e. GS, MS and JPM FIG and basically the same bank's NatRes teams (add Barclays to that as well). In Real Estate, moving to generalist PE is far less common, even if coming from these banks, which tend to be the strongest in the sector (MS in particular).

If PE isn't your end game, I've seen RE IB analysts move into credit / distressed shops in higher numbers, and most HF's would be less particular about your group as long as you are monitoring markets / maintaining a portfolio of your own and know how to model out companies across industries apart from RE.