“Every time you get an email, it always starts off these days with, ‘Your health is of our number one priority.’ But in my opinion, if our health really is of utmost importance to them, they should be non-smoking.”
—Brian Christopher, millennial “slot influencer,” congratulating casinos that have gone non-smoking. Christopher has more than 275,000 YouTube followers
“For some casino in Nevada to ban smoking at their own property would be economic suicide. It can’t be done on a property-by-property basis. It requires a statewide effort.”
—Andrew Klebanow, casino consultant, who says states must ban smoking in casinos across the board
“If you were in a time machine in 2018 and jumped here to 2020, you would think everything was normal, except for the masks. Football is king.”
—Jeff Stoneback, sportsbook director, Mirage Las Vegas
“Sports betting has always been one of those things that’s recession-proof, if you want to call what we’re in a recession.”
—John Murray, executive director, Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, on anticipation for the NFL season
“We weren’t in the middle of the mask debate. We were saying, ‘You’re wearing a mask. Period.’”
—Frank Hawk, Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters and chairman of Nevada’s construction task force on Covid-19 compliance, on worker safety at Resorts World Las Vegas
“I’m very, very disappointed that we are on the brink of a 100th anniversary and there has been nothing to commemorate it in any way.”
—Suzette Charles, former Miss America, on the pageant, which will not be held this year in Atlantic City, Connecticut or anywhere else
“Our business now—whether it is hotel occupancy or visitor volume—has been recovering gradually. For this year, what we are expecting is a stable but not any sudden, explosive recovery.”
—Linda Chen, vice chair and chief operating officer, Wynn Macau Ltd.
“The whole summer has been boring.”
—Darrell Pendry, New Jersey resident glad to return to indoor dining in Atlantic City
“He would blow between $5 million and $7 million at Caesars. Once he exhausted his credit line there, the VP would take him to Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut where he would blow $3 million to $5 million as well at each place.”
—James Miller, author, Powerhouse: The Inside Story of CAA, on former NBC Universal executive Ron Meyer, described as one of the “Top 3 most sought-after whales”
“In a crazy year like 2020, this is a positive.”
—Derek Stevens, casino owner, on the planned opening of his new Downtown Las Vegas property, called Circa
“Barstool Sports has gotten to where we are by virtue of our own grit, our smarts, being hungry, trying things, failing, getting up, and trying them again. In large part, Penn has done the same thing. It’s a self-made company.”
—Erika Nardini, president and CEO, Barstool Sports
“It’ll be a record season. People are spending more time at home because of the virus. There’s less to do. They’re not going to concerts, they’re not going to sporting events, they’re not going to the movies. They are watching sports on TV and betting on them.”
—Joe Asher, CEO, William Hill US, on betting during the NFL season
“There will be times when crypto prices will hit the roof or post massive dips. Do you follow the herd or stick to your own strategy? Just like in poker, the choice is yours. Jump tables or stick to yours and play the game skillfully.”
—Mike McDonald, poker pro who led his team to victory in the recent World Series of Trading, played with cryptocurrency
“We continued doing the right thing by paying staff even as contracts expired to get them through Covid and what we believed, and all the world hoped, would be a few months. But it looks like we will be closed until 2021.”
—Silver Heritage Group, in a statement on the closure of its Tiger Palace resort in Nepal, and the release of 400 workers
“The numbers are against it. Even with a full crowd in town for the Super Bowl, the state’s population is still far below that of other states. It may be the place where companies are headquartered and policy is set, but it’s probably not going to be the overall revenue leader.”
—David G. Schwartz, professor and gaming historian, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on why Nevada will not be a leader in sports betting revenue
“Instead of trying to starve our way to success, we’re trying to grow the market right now.”
—Andy Jones, director of marketing, Wildwood Casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado on the casino’s $2 million promotion in October
