“The opening of casinos face various challenges, including eliminating underworld involvement in their operation and preventing their use as fronts for laundering money. Given the arrest of the Lower House member over suspected bribery, eliminating corruption involving casino operators bidding for projects in Japan should also be on the agenda before the business is actually launched.”
—Japan Times, in an editorial about the widening casino corruption scandal, which to date has seen suspicion cast on six lawmakers
“We have seen more than 30 casinos shut down and more are going to do so in the near future. They are forced to shut down because they are losing income due to the ban. We believe that in 2020, some big casinos will shut down, too.”
—Ros Phearun, Cambodian Finance Ministry, who says 80 percent of the 136 casinos in the kingdom could shut down in the wake of the country’s iGaming ban
“The pope says priests should be where the people are. There are 11 casinos in Laughlin, so this is where we have taken our services. And to those who might say that God could not possibly be here, I say he is.”
—Father Charlie Urnick, a Catholic priest who celebrates mass at the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada
“Online gambling is not a good business because it causes problems for people. Like pawn shops and drug-trafficking, it impacts the lives of young people. It provides little benefit to the nation and casino workers. It is detrimental to our society; it is a disaster for the nation.”
—San Chey, executive director, Cambodia’s Affiliated Network for Social Accountability, who welcomed the government’s move to ban iGaming
“There’s no excuse for failing to comply with the law and attempting to ignore regulators. If you want to operate a gambling establishment in this state, then you must to do your part to uphold the public’s trust. Magnolia House hasn’t done that and it’s putting its patrons at risk.”
— Xavier Becerra, California attorney general, on his emergency order closing the Magnolia House casino
“If customers continue to largely ignore or demand the freedom to smoke, the status quo should remain. Just as Californians may vote on legalizing sports betting at the ballot box next year, Golden State residents and visitors will vote on this matter with their wallets.”
—Derek Helling, CDC Gaming Reports, on whether California’s Indian casinos should ban smoking
“When a guest loses a million dollars in the casino, they want their million dollars back.”
—Kim Mantle, head of butler services, Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, on a tendency by losing VIPs to pilfer hotel items like artwork, bedroom slippers and booze
“We will change the culture of women in leadership, and we will not stop until this industry becomes a beacon for others to study.”
— Jan Jones Blackhurst, on her appointment as “chief executive in residence” of a new diversity initiative at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute
“Of course, some sort of gaming, in my opinion, would probably fit into that scenario.”
— Bill Phillis, executive director, Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, on how sports betting can help fix school funding problems
“We’ll have a safe, regulated environment for thousands of Michigan residents who for years have been forced to travel to other states or play on risky offshore sites.”\
—Brandt Iden, Michigan representative, on the signing of his sports betting bill
“He has to understand that you’re in a fiscal situation here and can’t cut your way out of a $6 billion deficit. A significant source of new funds is going to be needed.”
—Joseph Addabbo Jr., New York state Senator, on why Andrew Governor Cuomo should sign mobile sports betting into law
“If you had to place a bet on New York mobile, right now the favorite would be approval in 2021 and launch at some point in 2022.”
—James Kilsby, analyst, Gambling Compliance, on hopes to bring online sports betting to the Empire State
