“We’re big fans of China, we’re big fans of Macau, we’ve been wildly successful, and our $2 billion statement in the call to bring the Londoner to fruition is proof positive that actions speak louder than words.”
—Rob Goldstein, Las Vegas Sands president and COO, who says he’s confident the U.S. company will retain its MSAR gaming concession
“Prize money are the wages of industry and this increase will be music to the ears of our members.”
—Cameron Partington, Queensland’s Thoroughbred Alliance, on $26 million in new prize money awarded by the government to avert an industry strike
“We could see illegal loans, kidnappings—all things that could appear. A proliferation of gaming concessionaires would not be very healthy to Macau. This is just my opinion.”
—Rui Cunha, former SJM Holdings executive director, who says there won’t be “space” for more than six gaming concessions in Macau
“Russia’s geographically isolated gaming zones were established in 2009 in an apparent bid by Vladimir Putin to keep Russians from enjoying themselves. To which we say, mission accomplished, Vlad.”
—CalvinAyre.com, in a report on the imminent demise of the Azov City casino zone in Russia
“Tomakomai is quite close to Connecticut in terms of environment.”
—Mike Tanji, Gaming Capital Management, on the parallels between Foxwoods’ home turf and Tomakomai, Japan, where it wants to develop an integrated resort
“Melco is going to bring the world to Cyprus.”
—Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, on the increased tourism to Cyprus when City Of Dreams Mediterranean opens
“Many people, foreigners from overseas, from South Asia, Southeast Asia, from Korea have come to Hong Kong or Japan. But now we have something new to offer to get people to come to the Greater Bay Area.”
—Allan Zeman, Hong Kong businessman, on the impact of the new Hong Kong Macau Zhuhai Bridge on Hong Kong, and especially the island of Lantau
“Slots have a bad reputation from back when the wife would send the husband to the bakery with the last dollar and he would blow it in the VLT.”
—Davis Hodge, Concordia Public Affairs Strategies, on the continuing negative perception of gaming in Brazil
“We have completed the development and integration of 20 Ainsworth slot titles for their Greentube Pro social casino platform, which will be used in North American land-based casinos. We are investigating other licensing opportunities with land-based casino machine sales, taking a bundled approach.”
—Outgoing Ainsworth CEO Danny Gladstone, on the company’s developing relationship with majority owner Novomatic AG, in the Ainsworth annual report
“In my visit to Les Bois Park in Boise, I saw no one interested in a historic horse race that showed the finish of the race that flashed rapidly across the screen. Instead they pushed the button rapidly, hoping the bells and whistles would declare them a winner.”
—Ken Andrus, chairman of Idaho United Against Prop. 1, which would allow historic horse racing machines in racetracks
“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.”
—Tara Elton-Marshall of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Institute for Mental Health Policy Research
“The economy is part of the equation. There is a comfort level and people are using disposable income for entertainment.”
—Saverio Scheri, Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa’s chief operating officer, explaining the frenzied pace of casino expansions in Southern California
