“It’s a truly transformational deal for both the company and the industry. We see strong strategic merit to the transaction. It improves Flutter’s position in key growth markets, including the U.S., while also bolstering scale.”
—Michael Mitchell and Jack O’Halloran, Davy Research, on Flutter Entertainment’s planned $6 billion deal buy of The Stars Group, which will create the world’s biggest iGaming firm
“If you choose not to do that, we are going to lose a lot of jobs, a lot of economic momentum … and I think it would be terrible to consider giving this business to a company that has no track record in doing this.″
—Gina Raimondo, Rhode Island governor, fighting a proposal to reject the no-bid deal she negotiated with IGT to run the state lottery and allow casino operator Twin River to bid
“As a steward of the public trust, that’s my biggest concern—how do I tell the entire community that I support something that does not support the community?”
—Les Baugh, Shasta County, California, board of supervisors, explaining why he voted to oppose the relocation of the Win-River Casino to land the Redding Rancheria purchased off Interstate 5
“We have to start with expanded gaming. We talk about being competitive while other states are eating our lunch.”
—Andy Beshear, Kentucky attorney general, gubernatorial candidate and a supporter of additional gaming in the Bluegrass State
“We have promised that none of our players should be able to lose their house or their home, that’s why we imposed a loss limit of €30,0000. We have now decided to strengthen that promise for the next year by lowering our maximum limit to €25,000, which corresponds to just over €2,000 a month on average.”
—Christer Fahlstedt, CEO, Finnish gaming company Paf, adding that “a lower annual loss limit is good for our customers”
“We need present-day attractions as well as cultural fiestas for tourists like laser shows, light and sound shows etc. to hold them back in Agra.”
—Sandeep Arora, president, Agra Tourism Development Foundation, who says the Taj Mahal isn’t enough to draw tourists to Uttar Pradesh, India
“We were persistent and headstrong. We might have been a bit naïve at first, but we made some great products.”
—Elaine Hodgson, CEO, Incredible Technologies, on her inclusion in the 2019 class of the American Gaming Association’s Gaming Hall of Fame
“As a courtesy and respect for the Chinese government closing down the online gaming in Cambodia, we will not accept any more applications for online gaming. We do not want to be the basin for the fallout in Cambodia. We just want to stand on our own, transparent and fair play. So we will not benefit from it in terms of having more operators.”
—Andrea Domingo, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), on the regulator’s commitment to issue no more online gaming licenses
“The current government and the one that comes are clear that the country plan needs to recover economically, and this is something that can only be done by private businessmen. Casinos and gaming machine rooms (can support) the recovery of employment.”
—Soraya Roye, Venezuelan entrepreneur and supporter of legal casinos as a jobs and revenue source
“There are horror stories where children are spending excessive amounts of money on in-game purchases. Many of these games promote themselves as free games but the loot boxes in the games are not. Do research, put the barriers in place, take control of the device, set up family time. And most importantly do not have any of your credit cards, debit cards linked to the account.”
—Steve Watts, parent of a recovering gambling addict and founder of the UK-based charity GamFam. MPs recently recommended that loot boxes be regulated as gambling, and that selling them to children be banned
“The government Lottery Office prints more than 100 million lottery tickets for each draw, which far outstrips the country’s total population of about 68 million people. This promotes a gambling habit, and incentivizes people to buy more tickets.”
—Nualnoi Trirat, director, Thailand Centre for Gambling Studies, who says 30 million Thais, or 57 percent of the country’s population, are gamblers, and some are as young as seven years old
“It’s dangerous, because it is promoted by well-known people, it’s a constant barrage of advertising they see it before, during and after the match. It’s become normal for children to think gambling and soccer are the same thing.”
—Stewart Kenny, Paddy Power founder, who resigned in 2016 over what he saw as the failure to tackle problem gambling and who objects to ads targeting kids
“It’s time to scrap the slogan because let’s be honest, by the time ‘the fun stops,’ you’re already dangerously addicted.”
—John Leech, former UK parliament member, who opposes a Senet Group responsible gaming campaign that he says doesn’t go far enough
“We embraced our competitors, and this end of the Boardwalk was the busiest it’s been in 20 years.”
—Mary Tindall, vice president of marketing, Resorts Atlantic City, on efforts to promote the northern end of the Boardwalk as North Beach
“What better time to launch than in the height of football season, the start of baseball playoffs, and just before basketball returns?”
—Richard Schwartz, president, Rush Street Interactive, on the debut of a platform for online and mobile sports betting in Indiana
“As many questions get answered, new questions pop up.”
—Nicholas Mattiello, Rhode Island House speaker, on hearings related to a proposed no-bid contract that would extend IGT’s term as supplier to the state lottery and casinos
“It’s time to chase that bear down out of the tree.”
—James Hahn, former Missouri Elks Association president, regarding unregulated gambling machines in the state
“At some point, there’s going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
—Tony Rodio, Caesars Entertainment CEO, on increases in hotel resort fees
