"The Chinese people are some of the smartest at math in the world, but they stop believing in it when they come here. They come through the door of a casino and all that math vanishes."

-Melco Crown Entertainment Co-Chairman Lawrence Ho to the Times on why his casino in Macau will be successful

"We're not putting a gun to anybody's head. We're just saying the facts."

-Charles Hayward, president of the New York Racing Association, who says NYRA may be forced to eliminate the Belmont Stakes-the third leg in the Triple Crown-if New York does not choose a racino operator for Aqueduct

"I think the single biggest issue facing the e-gaming sector for the next five to six years is going to be changes to law. That's whether the United States market will open up and whether the free market will win out in Europe."

-Warwick Bartlett, chairman of the Association of British Bookmakers and founder of Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, speaking at a meeting of the Isle of Man Junior Chamber of Commerce

"A project of that magnitude in Atlantic City would expand our market. I think Atlantic City is still kind of in a growth phase, where projects that have 'wow power' will bring more people here."

-Jeffrey Vasser, president of the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority, who says a project like Aria in Vegas could do wonders for the South Jersey resort

"I supported it because I thought it was out-of-the-box thinking by the airport."

-Miami-Dade County, Florida, Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, on a failed plan by Miami International to fund operations with slots

"Hopes for an economic recovery in this upstate region of New York depend on authorization of casino gaming."

-New York Governor David Paterson, in a letter to President Barack Obama stating his support of off-reservation casinos; the St. Regis Mohawks and the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans have attempted over the past decade to bring casinos to the Catskills

"I truly believe Atlantic City is permanently disfigured."

-Morgan Joseph & Co. gaming analyst Justin T. Sebastiano

"Everybody's been anticipating it. The fact that it's such a large amount and the fact that it's one of the leading casinos in the country-in the world, really-makes it significant."

-Gaming attorney Kevin Quigley, on the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, which  officially defaulted last week on a $21.25 million bond-interest payment due in November. The tribe owns Foxwoods and MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Connecticut

"I don't feel the type of facility we're envisioning would be right for eastern Long Island."

-Shinnecock Tribe Trustee Fred Bess, who agrees with wealthy Long Islanders that a casino in Southampton could create traffic nightmares. The tribe, which is poised for federal recognition, are scouting off-reservation locales including Suffolk County, Belmont Park, Aqueduct and the Catskills

"It's lousy and despicable, and Pennsylvania taxpayers ought to be upset... The entire bill stinks. It's all politics and it's all special interests."

-Pennsylvania state Rep. Dan Moul, on the bill to add table games to the state's casinos

"This is what happens when politicians use the CRDA as their own ATM machine."

-New Jersey Assemblyman John Amodeo, complaining about a $16.5 million Casino Reinvestment Development Authority grant distributed in 2002 to Camden County for a sports arena that was never built—funds that were never returned to the state

"This is not the end, but the beginning. We're going to fight every permit, the covenants, everything."

-Rob Annicelli, president of Maryland anti-gaming group Stop Slots at Arundel Mills, vowing in a Baltimore Sun interview to continue the group's fight against Cordish Companies' planned slot casino at Arundel Mills Mall, which received final zoning approval

"People come to Las Vegas, they like the hotel they're in but they also like to get out and walk and visit. In Atlantic City we don't have that, a lot of people go into a hotel and leave, or go next door and then they leave."

-Harrah's Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman on why he doesn't think the completion of the Revel Entertainment property in Atlantic City will make much difference to the struggling town

"Every single big family has its own disagreements. When we all sit down together we talk about business less. When I sit with my father it is more like father and son than two competitors trying to chew each other's heads off."

-Melco Crown Entertainment Co-Chairman Lawrence Ho on gatherings with family members, father Stanley and sister Pansy

"It's my personal opinion that if you're in the gambling racket today illegally, you shouldn't be able to operate legally. It's my feeling we should be as strict as we possibly can."

-Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffee, whose board is under considerable pressure to quickly approve regulations that would allow vendors to install 21,000 video slot machines and the state to start collecting taxes; the board is also being pressured to allow those who have been illegally operating the machines up to now to be licensed

"I've personally delivered more than $50 million to the redevelopment of the historic district, which has become an art and cultural center. The last thing we need is something that does anything other than enhance the thriving historic district."

-Massachusetts state Senator Mark Montigny signals his opposition to a proposal to turn an old power plant in New Bedford's historical district into a casino

"That we are in a fiscal crisis cannot be denied: The state needs the revenue, and in this dire economy we surely need the jobs. But proponents of the bill must accept that if we are to bring casinos into the commonwealth, steps must be taken to ensure that this additional revenue does not come at the expense of the quality of life in our communities. "

-Tom Sannicandro, writing for the Worcester Business Journal about current efforts in the Massachusetts Legislature to expanding gaming in the state

"The commission needs more analysis and, especially, additional hard data before it can reach firm findings to provide a complete analysis to help guide decision makers and others as they grapple with the complicated, multilayered issue of whether to expand gambling."

-From the interim report issued by the Gaming Study Commission formed by New Hampshire Governor John Lynch to study the pros and cons of expanded gaming. A final report is expected in May

By Staff