“As the tribe alleged in its lawsuit, for over a decade these individuals ran the tribe’s government as a brutal kleptocracy, enriching themselves and their families while brutally punishing those who opposed them.”
—Stuart G. Gross, attorney for the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, on three former tribal officials who have pleaded guilty to embezzling funds
“The first year can be the most difficult, because you’re really trying to figure out not only how is the market going to respond to the product, your promotions, but what is the competition going to do to hold onto those customers.”
—Michael Mathis, president, MGM Springfield, on the casino’s failure to meet first-year expectations for revenues
“We are quickly becoming an employer of choice in Washington. With over 3,000 jobs—which have an average salary above $75,000 and great benefits—we have a great team and are looking forward to investing another $100 million into this state over the next few years.”
—Tim Merrill, president, Maverick Washington, whose parent Maverick Gaming LLC last week announced the purchase of five casinos in the state
“We’re not quite sure what’s going to happen in the world of junkets… it’s difficult to ignore the media and related responses in the case of Crown over the last few weeks.”
—Graeme Stephens, CEO, SkyCity Entertainment, on risks that the Australian VIP market could be adversely affected by investigations of Macau-based junkets
“Some foreign criminals have taken refuge in the form of this gambling to cheat and extort money from victims, domestic and abroad, which affect the security, public order and social order.”
—Cambodian government, in a surprising directive that will ban new online gaming operations and remove existing operators once their licenses have expired
“They are looking at tensions between the China and the US, they are not sure what the next year is going to look like and they are holding back. They still show up—they have business interests in Australia, kids at university—but when they show up to play they don’t take the same risk.”
—Matt Bekier, CEO, Star Entertainment, on the drop in VIP revenues at its casinos in Australia
“Preventing disclosure of public information related to the exclusive holder of a casino gaming license in the CNMI runs counter to the aims of the gaming statute and also is against the public interest. This is simply gamesmanship and an attempt to sow confusion and cause delay rather than move towards a decision on merits.”
—Christopher Timmons, representing casino commissioners in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, on an effort by gaming operator Imperial Pacific International to keep its financial records sealed
“There are so many of them here already… their number is by the thousands and aside from some concerns that they might engage in espionage operations, social problems might crop up while they’re in the vicinity of the camps.”
—Delfin Lorenzana, Philippine defense secretary, who’s worried that Chinese online gaming workers are living near military bases and may be spies
