“They call them the crack cocaine of gambling. To move to amplifying that on the internet with essentially unlimited access is appalling. It’s totally irresponsible.”
—Bruce Dienes, chairman, Gambling Risk Informed Nova Scotia, on the possibility of online casinos in the Canadian province
“We didn’t anticipate that anyone would go to this length to effectively deceive the team to get vaccinated. I think we all felt pretty offended at the whole thing.”
—John Streicker, Yukon Community Services, on a ruse by former Canadian casino head Rod Baker to get a Covid-19 vaccine. Baker and his actress girlfriend flew to the Yukon and claimed to be local motel workers to get the vaccine
“Sports betting is alive and well in Massachusetts, but unfortunately we’re letting money go down the drain to the black market and states that have legalized.”
—Brendan Crighton, Massachusetts state senator, who expects his colleagues to seriously consider passage of sports-betting legislation this session
“Guests must wear a mask indoors, but are allowed to remove it to smoke (or vape), blowing potentially hazardous droplets into shared air for fellow guests and gaming employees to breathe in. No credible public health official would approve of allowing the removal of masks to smoke.”
—Cynthia Hallett, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, in a letter to President Joe Biden asking that Covid funds be withheld from casinos that allow smoking
“Americans like to bet, Americans like sports. You combine them together, it’s a natural activity.”
—Patrick Garofalo, Minnesota state representative, on his decision to introduce sports betting legislation
“Pretty soon we’re going to be left in the dark, and we can’t be the one left in the dark.”
— Ben Koff, vice president, Scarlet Pearl Casino in Mississippi, on the need to approve sports betting in the state
“There’s just no place like Macau, and we’re not done in Macau.”
—Rob Goldstein, Las Vegas Sands Corp. chairman and CEO, on the company’s commitment to spending $5 billion or more in the territory in the years ahead
“Mobile is where it’s at.”
—Jay Kornegay, Westgate SuperBook, who says more than 80 percent of bets there are placed on a mobile device, compared to 65 percent before the pandemic
