“Unfortunately, gaming always involves problems that cannot be done away with in any system. We take all detriments associated with gaming extremely seriously.”—Olli Sarekoski, CEO, Finnish gaming operator Veikkaus, who says revenues and profits dropped after it introduced tighter responsible gaming controls
“Surely the public will see that what the authorities are doing is just a kind of theater meant to show that they are enforcing the law, when they are actually concerned only with business interests.”—Thun Ratha, Cambodian environmentalist, slamming authorities for letting the owners of a polluting casino to delay its planned demolition
“The lack of guaranteed reward from these purchases can leave some children feeling as though they have wasted their money. The potential to receive a good reward means that children also feel that they are not in control of their spending, and sometimes try to ‘chase losses’. In general, children do not have effective strategies to manage their online spend.”—Anne Longfield, UK Children’s Commissioner’s Office, on the harmful effects of online gaming among children 10 to 16
“I am extremely touched by all the calls and emails I’ve received over the past several months. It has been remarkable to hear from so many people, including many of you joining us today. I deeply appreciate the well wishes and everyone who took the time to reach out to me. It certainly means a lot.”—Sheldon Adelson, speaking on Las Vegas Sands’ third-quarter earnings call about concerns about his health
“The numbers speak for themselves in Macau, it’s been challenging there. We’ve been doing this a long time and we’ve watched the market ebb and flow. We’re in a difficult time period.”—Rob Goldstein, president, Las Vegas Sands, on a 3Q conference call with analysts
“The poor guy is in tatters—he’s completely shattered.”—Source, who told the New Zealand Herald an apprentice who left a blowtorch alight is traumatized by the massive fire that resulted at SkyCity Auckland
“The board is confident that the facts set forth in the complaint support the position that Mr. Wynn’s finding of suitability should be revoked by the Nevada Gaming Commission.”—Nevada Gaming Control Board, in a terse statement saying the agency has “unanimously decided to file a complaint to commence disciplinary proceedings” against Steve Wynn, former Wynn Resorts CEO
“September’s results on the Strip exceeded our expectations, with the out-performance largely driven by lucky VIP hold. We believe the fourth quarter will continue to see underlying strength in the market, with operators seeing near-record convention schedules.”—Chad Beynon, Macquarie Securities gaming analyst, on the Strip’s revenue surge, with slot win up 4.2 percent
“The introduction of another local casino competitor would force us to defend our local market share at the expense of driving incremental interstate and international tourism. … In the hope of breaking the deadlock of seven years, we are reaching out to the Queensland government.”—John O’Neill, chairman, Star Entertainment, which says it will invest billions of dollars in Australia’s Gold Coast in exchange for exclusivity in the market
“The beauty of this is now we’re doing this interstate.”—David Rebuck, director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, speaking about the Sports Wagering Integrity Monitoring Association, which looks for suspicious activity in sports betting.
“It’s all about engagement.”—Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA Tour, discussing sports betting options in golf.
“This is prime real estate, and Atlantic City deserves a winner — exactly what Colosseo Construction will bring to the market.”—Joshua Garay, of Garay Real Estate, who has been hired to come up with ideas for the Atlantic Club building just purchased by Colosseo.
“In the sports betting gold rush that’s going on, everybody wants to take bets, make bets, build technology that takes bets or do media.”—Matthew Holt, owner of U.S. Integrity, which monitors social media, tracks the records of referees and examines the movement of betting lines, among other data, to identify trends.
“I urge others in the banking sector to follow suit for the good of their customers.”—Nicky Morgan, the secretary of state for digital, culture media and sport, asking other banks in the UK to open their doors to gaming addiction counselors.
“While their words are promising, they have used words in the past to deny equity and basic constitutional rights for student-athletes.”—U.S. Congressman Mark Walker, showing skepticism over the NCAA proposal to permit students to profit from the image and name.
“We believe we can be a regional, if not a West Coast, destination.”—Mark Birtha, president of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain, upon the grand opening last week of the newest gaming destination in California
“You’re standing where our housing used to be. The leaps that we took to make a decision to uproot our community to go into this venture of economic development weighed very heavily on us and on our families.”— Shawn Yanity, chairman of the Stillaguamish Tribe of Washington, hailing the opening of the expansion of the Angel of the Winds casino
“I told my team I don’t care how we do this but we’re going to be fair about it, and I’m going to be placing a bet on Tom Brady and the over before this season is done.”—Chris Sununu, governor of New Hampshire, on his enthusiasm for sports book coming to the Granite State
