“My dad doesn’t need to give me any suggestions on this project, his presence in my life already tells me what I should do for the project.”
—Arnaldo Ho, son of Stanley Ho, announcing that he will open a HK$5 billion (US$641 million) Macau-themed resort called Lisboeta in 2020
“Two years ago, only 11 of our staff owned cars. Now, more than 110 of our staff own cars. By working here, many employees have seen an improvement in their standard of living.”
—Liu Lianchi, deputy GM, Hongdou International, on the benefits of Chinese investment in Cambodia
“The area will be much more attractive, especially for foreign customers. The sooner the cluster effect is created, the better it will be.”
— Stylianos Tsifetakis, COO, Summit Ascent Holdings, impatiently awaiting new casinos in Russia’s Primorye IEZ. Summit’s Tigre de Cristal opened there in 2015, and is still the only operating casino
“As a citizen, I support Chinese investment in Cambodia. China doesn’t seek to destroy Cambodia.”
—Lim Chea Vutha, Cambodian business owner, rebutting claims that the influx of Chinese investment in the country is a threat to local business and culture
“This fund is derived from unclaimed gambling winnings. It should be used for genuine community building projects or to support victims of gambling harm.”
—Justin Field, New South Wales Greens party member, on $850,000 derived from unclaimed gambling that went to fund a Jackie Chan movie
“It’s a new low in terms of the nonsensical garbage Chan is willing to put his name to.”
—South China Morning Post, in a review of the Jackie Chan film “Bleeding Steel,” funded in part by a New South Wales community fund coming from gaming
“Even if the Court grants this procedural request, we are confident that the Court will reject those claims on the merits, regardless of how many different ways and times the Tribe tries to make the same argument. This is like a student asking for a do-over after failing a test.”
—Debra DeShong, spokesman for MGM Resorts International, on the attempt by Connecticut tribes to revive a lawsuit against the Department of the Interior to force a decision on the East Windsor casino
“I think there is certainly a revenue opportunity in Virginia. We already see a lot of our residents’ dollars go across the river to the MGM casino and we lose out on a lot of opportunities to capture some of that revenue.”
—Del. Marcus Simon of Virginia, who plans to introduce sports betting legislation in January
“Adolescents’ participation in seemingly risk-free social casino games is a concern because we know that early exposure to gambling activities is a risk factor for developing gambling problems in the future.”
—Dr. Tara Elton-Marshall, of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, warning of correlations between free social casino games and gambling addiction
“The North American customer is probably not going to use facial recognition as quickly as someone in Macau, but also someone in Macau is not going to adopt cashless as quickly as someone in Florida or other locations that have already agreed to do cashless gaming. Our systems open those options up for everyone.”
—Scientific Games System Sales Manager Amit Patel, in an interview with Inside Asian Gaming on the floor of the Global Gaming Expo describing new capabilities of the supplier’s system products
“We totally prepared for it. I mean, it’s never exactly what you expect it will be, but this is pretty close to what we expected. We were out ahead of it. We had a very deliberate approach: We were very clearly mobile-focused, others were retail first. I don’t know if that’s because that was easier, or more obvious, or what. But mobile is where I think almost everything, in the long run, will be.”
—Jason Robbins, DraftKings CEO to Yahoo Finance on the DFS company’s quick move into online sports betting after the US Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports wagering
“The Caribbean and Central American markets have been waiting for a company to provide them a service that truly meets their needs. With promotions, on site content and customer service all managed locally, PowerPlay will be catering for the needs of local players. Our management team own and run land-based casinos in the Caribbean, and our research shows players are waiting for a localized online product. We will be bringing live betting on sports and casino to players via mobile and desktop devices, and we feel our product is as competitive as any other in the local markets. We cannot wait for players to try it out.”
—Keith McDonnell, co-founder of PowerPlay a new Caribbean-based online casino and sports betting platform that targets players in its home market and Central America
