“Commercial casinos don’t build hospitals, don’t build roads, don’t build homes. They take their money and give it to their shareholders.”
—John Berrey, chief of the Quapaw tribe of Oklahoma, who said tribal casinos in the state do far more for the public good than their commercial counterparts
“This is not a problem with IRs, but a problem with the representatives. This scandal and crime has absolutely nothing to do with Osaka’s ongoing IR project.”
—Hirofumi Yoshimura, Osaka governor, distancing himself from the corruption scandal around the launch of Japan integrated resorts
“Nearly every aspect of your life is under surveillance.”
—Kevin Mullally, counsel, Gaming Laboratories International, on the growing use of technology to ID casino customers
“What level of privacy are they willing to forgo in letting the casino know how much they played to earn a free buffet or a free hotel room?”
—Sandra Douglass Morgan, Nevada Gaming Control Board chairwoman, asking how far casinos should go in collecting data on patrons
“Which one is worse, stealing signs electronically, taking steroids or betting on baseball? All three are bad. But at least what I did never had anything to do with the outcome of the game.”
—Pete Rose, on the Houston Astros cheating scandal. The team devised a system to illegally steal signs during its 2017 World Series championship season
“I remain unconvinced at this time that the majority of Maine people are ready to legalize, support, endorse and promote betting on competitive athletic events.”
—Janet Mills, governor of Maine, vetoing sports betting legislation that passed last summer
“I would expect that the veto will be sustained. Maine is a gambling state for sure, we just want to do it right.”
—Bill Diamond, Maine senator, on the demand by Maine sports bettors to overturn Governor Janet Mills’ veto of a sports betting bill
“We have a tough time thinking that even half of the negatives thrown at Macau last year—VIP smoking ban, renminbi depreciation, junket noises, Hong Kong protest, visa control—will recur this year.”
—JP Morgan analysts DS Kim, Derek Choi and Jeremy An, sounding an upbeat note about the coming year in Macau gaming
“By targeting Nevada’s economic engine with a 44 percent tax increase, this proposal would be very damaging to the state’s economy, job creation, capital investment and future economic development. … Unfortunately, one of the teachers’ unions has chosen a path of higher pay at the expense of tens of thousands of other jobs throughout the state.”
—Nevada Resort Association, in a statement opposing a gaming tax increase proposed by Nevadans for Fair Gaming Taxes, a PAC aligned with the Clark County Education Association
“And I’ve looked back at my own gambling history and I can see there’s literally a bombardment of adverts and text messages that you just can’t escape even when you’re trying your best to come out of that spiral.”
—Alex Macey, former U.K. police officer, who supports calls from the National Health Service to put an end to VIP programs
“I don’t think it is as easy as the past; but I’m still very positive that the future is going to be very bright. And I think what we need to do is look for slow and steady increases rather than very rapid increases.”
—Grant Bowie, MGM China CEO, who has a positive outlook on Macau’s gaming revenue for 2020
“They lead to more decisions and lower volatility for the books, which is always a goal.”—David Schwartz, a gambling expert at the University of Las Vegas in Nevada, on the advantages of proposition bets
“That’s not accepted in any other city but Atlantic City.”
—Marty Small, Atlantic City mayor, who wants to demolish the dilapidated remains of Trump Plaza, located at the entrance to the city
“In business, the buck stops with the person in charge. The expectations may have been unreasonable, but that’s no consolation. I don’t think they’re losing money. It’s just that they are not generating the money they’d projected.”
— Fred Carstensen, Connecticut economist, on the ouster of Michael Mathis as president and COO of MGM Springfield
