“Taxing free play is akin to taxing coupons and perks that department stores and other businesses give to frequent customers. Yet, Wolf’s proposal would not apply to Kohl’s Cash, Macy’s coupons, Giant Eagle’s FuelPerks program and all the restaurant programs that award free meals to frequent diners.”
—Column by Mark Gruetze of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review criticizing Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s proposal to tax casinos for 8 percent of free play awarded as unfairly singling out the casino industry
“To say that somehow we could be some island unto ourselves and say, well, we’re just going to keep things in Atlantic City, not going to expand to another part of the state where there’s greater population and also greater competition now from Pennsylvania and from New York… I think New Jersey has to get into the business.”
—New Jersey Governor Chris Chistie, to CBS 2 on the creation of casinos in North Jersey, on which voters will decide in November in a referendum to change the state constitution
“Yes, this is a campaign and they want to do that. It is distressing that some of those who are releasing such claims are professors. Why would I do that? First of all, it is very clear in the law. I am not receiving such. It is easy to get another document for signature. It is not real.”
—Grace Poe, Philippine senator and presidential candidate, on reports she accepted millions in donations from Macau junket operator Suncity, in violation of election laws
“Casinos are actually known conduits of money laundering because buying casino chips and exchanging them with cash later without actually gambling—that’s laundering. That’s laundering of funds.”
—Vicente Aquino, executive director, Philippines Anti-Money Laundering Council, who has joined the call to make casinos subject to AML laws
“The Filipinos should elect a president who will not bow to the whims of big business to the detriment of public interest.”
—Miriam Defensor Santiago, Philippines senator and presidential candidate, on a campaign to strengthen the country’s AML laws
“Payments to facilitate services, payments to gain access are pervasive in Cambodia. They dominate at the grass roots of society and they run all the way up to the top levels of government.”
—Sebastian Strangio, Phnom Penh journalist, on reports that Tabcorp attempted to bribe its way into a Cambodian gaming license. Tabcorp denies the allegation
“The lion’s share of Sands China’s profit comes from its mass-market casino tables and non-gaming businesses, and the mix continues to shift more in this direction. These segments generated about 80 percent of last year’s operating profit.”
—Tim Craighead, analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence, on why Sands China is the operator to beat in the new, mass-oriented Macau
“There could be more people laid off this year, most at the end of the year. The gaming companies are afraid of making big changes now, because the government is still working on the mid-term review of the sector.”
—Lei Kuok Keong, Forefront of Macau Gaming, on fears that some trade union members could be out of work by the end of 2016. Casinos are unlikely to rock the boat as the government decides which gaming concessions will be reinstated in 2020
“This is a black eye on the entire Philippine financial sector.
—Serge Osmena, chairman of the Philippine Senate committee on banks and financial institutions, on allegations of pervasive money laundering in the country’s casinos
“The lies that others have been communicating, like Neil Bluhm—it’s egregious. To even launch and fund a lawsuit against the tribe—when he’s going for a commercial license—how immoral! How sad that that this has become, that someone like this would do such an egregious act.”
—Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts, criticizing Neil Bluhm of Rush Street Gaming for funding a lawsuit to try to stop the tribe from building a casino in Taunton
“So, is it real? Yes. Who’s going to operate it? Genting on behalf of the tribe. Is it fully financed? Yes.”
—Kevin Jones, president of Genting Massachusetts, remarking that the Genting Group would be operating “Project First Light” for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Taunton
“When you have a catalyst of this magnitude, you don’t see it at first. Remarkable things happen once it exists. All of a sudden people see all kinds of opportunities for connectivity to adjacent communities, for development that’s fanciful and lovely that otherwise would never have been possible.”
—Steve Wynn, predicting that the Wynn Boston Harbor casino he is building in Everett will spark an economic surge of the city
“When you consider the 1,000 construction jobs and 2,600 permanent jobs this will create, as well as the millions of dollars in additional revenues it will provide, this is a watershed moment for our city. The economic multiplier effects are enormous.”
—Taunton, Massachusetts Mayor Thomas Hoye, speaking of the effects that the Project First Light Casino being built by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe will have on his city
“To think that someone who represented Connecticut for so many years in Congress would now thumb his nose at the state that put its trust in him, to make a buck, is unconscionable.”
—David Collins, writing for the Day, commenting on the fact that former U.S. Senator Joseph Liebermann of Connecticut is an attorney for the Schaghticoke Indians, who are suing the state for the right to operate a casino
“When it comes to the prospects of a casino being built in Tiverton just 400 feet from the state line with Fall River, residents and officials on the Massachusetts side of the border are largely on the outside looking in.”
—Editorial, Herald News, advising officials of Fall River and the state of Massachusetts to seek mitigations from neighboring Rhode Island, where voters will decide in November whether to allow the Newport casino to move to Tiverton, located a few hundred feet from the state line
