“Our investment has provided tens of thousands of new jobs in areas such as retail, entertainment and hotel operations. We’ve enabled local companies and suppliers to grow their businesses, and we’ve helped the government expand its tax base and diversify its economy.”
—Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson, outlining the positive impact gambling has had on Macau after receiving permission from the Chinese government to build the $2.5 billion Parisian
“This is going to be really good for Chittenango. It will create jobs, and may even get people to move here.”
—Ronny Goeler, Chittenango Mayor, speaking in regards to the Yellow Brick Road Casino, set to open early 2015
“Take a ride around the Southern Tier and see what it looks like. It’s about as depressed an area as there is and when you had a chance to help these people, with the fracking and the casino, they give them this doubleheader,”
—Jeff Gural, owner of Tioga Downs racino, on New York’s decision not to grant a casino license in the Southern Tier
“It is clear that more can be done to sustain the sector in supporting people’s health and well-being, in enhancing our social fabric and in growing our economy. That is why the federation is today calling on the government to give serious consideration to affording tax relief to the day-to-day spending of sporting bodies, beyond capital spending as pertains now, as well as including all sports—and not just horse and greyhound racing—in the allocation of development funding from betting taxes.”
—Bernard Brogan, president of the Federation of Irish Sports, in a call for tax relief for national sporting bodies and allocation of a portion of betting tax revenue to sports development projects and development programs in Ireland
“The whole concept of economic development through commercial casinos is wrongheaded…It actually leads to less money, not more, because of the costs of problem gambling.”
—Stephen Shafer, Coalition Against Gambling in New York
“Everybody is proud of getting to 40 million, but what is the next benchmark? We have to just keep trying to create events that will exceed what we already have accomplished. There is no stopping that process for us.”
—Pat Christenson,Las Vegas Events president
“It only cost me $13 million and my reputation but I have heard gratitude for bringing this community together and giving it hope in a way it hasn’t had for fifty years now.”
—Michael Treanor, Nevele developer looking for solace after his failed casino plan
“We’ll deal with it, and we’re confident that Turning Stone will remain and has been at the forefront of casinos in New York state and in the Northeast, and have a great venue and continue to expand. So while we’re concerned, we’re confident that we’ll remain at number 1.”
—Anthony Picente, Oneida County Executive, speaking on how business may be affected with three casino licenses recently granted in New York
“Castro’s communist regime may have accidentally contributed something else to the speedy rebirth of casinos. There has been so little economic progress on the island that apparently the ornate buildings constructed in the 1950s to house the mob’s casinos are still standing, waiting to be refurbished and reopened, under new management.”
—Nelson Rose, columnist of “Gambling and the Law,” commenting on the possibility of Cuba being reborn as a gambling Mecca now that the U.S. and Cuba have thawed relations
“We remain hopeful that as the case progresses the court will make every effort to understand the game and its technology, ultimately realizing that the games being offered are by definition legal Class II games.”
—Cruz Bustamante, spokesman for the Iipay Nation in Southern California, reacting to a federal court decision ordering the tribe’s online bingo DesertRoseBingo.com to cease operating
“Even this pro-casino columnist is starting to worry about oversaturation, with the potential for a fourth casino in Massachusetts and yet another one just over the border in Connecticut as that state desperately tries to hang onto its high rollers and slot players by building a new gambling playground.”
—Shirley Leung of the Boston Globe, commenting on the possibility of more casinos being built in Massachusetts than was originally authorized by the 2011 gaming expansion act
“One saying in Macau has it that ‘A table is not big enough to put on a good show.’ But what Macau has achieved in the past 15 years proves that with the right path, good policies, flexible moves and concerted efforts, a great show can unfold even on a table.”
?Xi Jinping, president of China, urging the Chinese territory to diversify its economy, which now derives 80 percent of revenues from casinos
“People are afraid of being spotted and want to stay low-profile, so they have reduced the number of their trips.”
?Anonymous casino executive, on the Chinese crackdown on corruption that’s caused high rollers to avoid Macau
“They are also probably lower-key in how they travel about, instead of being ferried around in helicopters and Ferraris.”
?Tim Craighead, Bloomberg Intelligence, on Chinese high rollers nervous about the crackdown on corruption in Macau
“Everything that occurs in Macau with regard to gaming is basically ‘permitted to happen’ by Beijing.”
?Steve Vickers, CEO, risk consultancy SVA, on China’s increased scrutiny of corruption and money laundering in Macau
“The punters now are a totally different breed of people. They’re not as nice as the people who put bets on the horses and football?the old-timers. You can see a lot more anxiety and stress on their faces. It’s something they don’t seem to enjoy any more.”
?Keith Tomlin, London bookmaker, on changes in the betting industry over his 50-year career. A new 25 percent duty on FOBTs could undermine the industry when it goes into effect this year
