“It is foolhardy and immature and unsophisticated to issue dividends on borrowed money… (Fixed dividends) are baloney, and any company that does that is irresponsible.”
—Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn, on the idea of maintaining dividends at current levels despite flat results in Macau, after cutting Wynn Resorts’ quarterly dividend from $1.50 to 50 cents per share
“Are daily fantasy sports sites gambling? Yes; it isn’t even a debate. You’re putting money up on an event of uncertain outcome in expectation or hope of winning a larger reward. That’s the definition of gambling.”
—Timothy Fong of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program to ThinkProgress on the rise of daily fantasy sports leagues
“A win is a win is a win. We knew were in a bare knuckled fight for weeks and weeks. We knew this was going to be a close election and that’s how we operated and that’s what it turned out to be.”
—Joe Baerlein, a spokesman for Mass Gaming and Entertainment, which is proposing a casino in Brockton, Massachusetts, where the casino passed in a very close host community vote
“This is about saving 9,000 jobs in the state of Connecticut and we want to insure that the steps we’re taking are the right steps.”
—Connecticut state Senator Bob Duff, commenting on a bill that would authorize the state’s two gaming tribes to talk to communities about siting a tribal casino
“We’ve forgotten what the potential societal human costs of gambling has wrought. We’re betting on an industry that has a downward trajectory.’’
—State Senator Tony Hwang of Connecticut, who opposes allowing the state’s two gaming tribes to open satellite casinos to blunt competition from Massachusetts
“The reality is that it’s just a misplaced concern. The evidence indicates that there will not be a spike in crime as a result of the casino.”
—Clyde Barrow, the former director of the Center for Policy Analysis at UMass-Dartmouth, discussing whether casinos attract crime
“We don’t want to pass a bill that looks good only to have it stall in the future. If we’re going to protect those jobs, we’ve got to make sure we have everything as buttoned up as possible.”
—State Senator Bob Duff explaining the logic for taking it slow to authorize satellite Indian casinos in Connecticut
“Resolution of the seven-year back and forth among legislators and potential operators still face numerous obstacles. Missing (in the debate) is a discussion of the risks of online poker and the conditions necessary to secure the game.”
—Bo Mazzetti, chairman of the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians in San Diego County, on the issue of legalizing online poker in California
“How a so-called civilized society can allow and offer the mindless operation of poker machines to witless members of the public under the euphemism of gaming and entertainment is no doubt a question for the sociologists of this world.”
—Roland Williams, Australian judge who presided in the case of a con artist who spent hundreds of thousands of stolen funds at Casino Melbourne
“The issue is about how people are trying to address poverty. This all comes down to the economic environment, unemployment and people trying to survive. The economy is not performing.”
—Christopher Mugaga, economist, on a surge of gambling in Zimbabwe, which has an estimated unemployment rate of up to 90 percent
“I hope that the government will give us an appropriate number of tables for our profits to be reasonable.”
—Francis Liu, Galaxy Entertainment, on the company’s two new Macau casinos; Galaxy asked for 400 table games for the resorts, but got 150
“To me you have to do more than lend your name, you gotta be there in order to just be more a part of it and really believe in it.”
—Robert DeNiro, at the opening of the Nobu Hotel in Manila’s City of Dreams. The actor is a partner in the business
“We want to see responsible gambling embedded in the casino industry in the same way food hygiene is in the restaurant industry. If you fleece people there is a chance they will lose their jobs and homes. We do not want that.”
—Roy Ramm, governance and public affairs director at Caesars Entertainment and former Scotland Yard officer, who says the U.K. has cleaned up its act in terms of responsible gaming
“It’s hard to believe, but I started at Caesars Palace wearing a toga. I really liked it, too, which is the sad thing.”
—John Ceriale, Blackstone Group Adviser and longtime resort executive, speaking on his humble beginnings in the industry
“There is not a lot left of the hotel from when it first opened because of expansions, but it’s good for the city that we will still have the name Tropicana.”
—David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, speaking on the importance of preservation for a historic property
“It was packed. It was a fun vibe. We had tens of thousands of people who walked through the property.”
—Scott Kreeger, president and COO of SLS Las Vegas, speaking on the impact seen from the Rock in Rio USA music festival
