“Gambling is already a problem in Hawaii: The HPD has recently said there are 70 to 100 illegal game rooms on Oahu, which themselves foster crime. Do we really think that moral authority and playing whack-a-mole will eventually stop an activity that has existed since the Stone Ages?”
—Ray Cho, Center for Gambling Studies, Rutgers (NJ) School of Social Work, who says “arguments used during the Prohibition era still work a century later in Hawaii, a so-called progressive state”
“People around here are saying, ‘It’s going to make more traffic; it’s going to make it tougher on us.’ Really? (The Indians) were here before you. And you took their land. It’s incredible how people think.”
—Jack Morris, co-owner of the Hard Rock Atlantic City, on helping New York’s Shinnecock tribe develop a casino in the Hamptons section of Long Island
“Better than any bonus, better than any financial gain is the phone call you get when (someone you mentored) gets promoted and they say, ‘I learned stuff from you.’”
—Holly Gagnon, distinguished fellow, International Gaming Institute at University of Nevada Las Vegas, on the OpenDoors campaign of the All-in Diversity Project. The campaign asks gaming employees to thank their mentors
“He’s been trying to tough it out, but I think it’s going to be impossible now. You can’t have three inquiries and then say, ‘Oh, it’s fine, he stays in control.’”
—Stephen Mayne, Crown Resorts activist shareholder, who believes Crown principal shareholder James Packer is on his way out
“Because of its secretive nature, money laundering activities do not leave behind much clear evidence of their existence, nor do they generally produce witnesses who are motivated to publicly speak about it.”
—Austin Cullen, head of British Columbia’s Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in B.C.
“We have to turn the page. We have to get our mojo back.”
—Marty Small, Atlantic City mayor, on the city’s latest comeback aspirations
“If passed, this legislation would cause real and lasting harm to the tribes and to the state’s economy. It would also undermine the framework that the state and the tribes have worked carefully to develop over the last 30 years.”
—Rebecca George, executive director, Indian Gaming Association, on a Washington bill that would open sports betting to the state’s commercial casinos
“Somebody has to lose in order for P.E.I. to make money, and all the studies show that that person is more likely to be a low-income Islander.”
—Peter Bevan-Baker, leader of the opposition party of Prince Edward Island, Canada, criticizing plans by Atlantic Lotto to introduce online gaming
“We’ll look at the entire market of Texas, but focus primarily on Dallas, because that’s where the greatest bleed of money is going, across the Oklahoma border.”
—Andy Abboud, senior vice president of government affairs, Las Vegas Sands, who wants to persuade the Texas legislature to approve five casinos
“Technology doesn’t change the words of the constitution.”
—David Wiest, deputy secretary for the South Dakota Department of Revenue, who insists the push for mobile sports betting in the state won’t fly
