“The fact of the matter is they’re still requiring a billion investment. If you don’t have locals allowed to play and a very high tax structure, it’s up to 35 percent, it’s up around Macau levels for a gaming tax. So when you put things together, it’s not very attractive for investors at this point in time. Vietnam is going to be a little tough.”
—Shawn McCamley, Global Market Advisors, who says if Vietnam ends its ban on locals play, it may draw big-name casino operators
“This is a date that sounds so bewilderingly futuristic that we imagine the few humans left in existence in 2026 will be playing their online poker by transmitting thought patterns through artificial neural networks while swimming in electro-magnetic virtual reality pods.”
—Katie Barlowe, writing for Casino.org, describing a proposal by the Pechanga tribe that California iPoker legislation include a provision barring participation by PokerStars until 2026
“It is really a silly decision. The card rooms are going to become silly casinos, and many of the real players will drive the extra distance to the tribal casinos.”
—Richard Schuetz, former California Gambling Control Commissioner, on new rules requiring card rooms to rotate the bank of poker games for each new game
“The tribe’s tactics are designed to make us, and our Board of Supervisors, feel all is lost. It wants us to believe we have to settle for getting what little the tribe offers. It preys on our sense of justice by promulgating false guilt.”
—Mike Brady, writing in the Santa Barbara Independent, urging the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors oppose plans by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians to put 1,400 acres into trust for a reservation and build a commercial development near its casino
“Casinos are an economic driver in 40 states, including Rhode Island, that provide a path to the middle class by supporting 1.7 million job in over 200 unique career paths for a diverse set of workers.”
—Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, recommending a yes vote by residents of Tiverton, Rhode Island, and the state voters on Question 1, which would authorize a casino in Tiverton, near the boundary with Massachusetts
“The reality is, it takes time. It’s not all of sudden you go live and everybody comes and plays. It takes time to educate the marketplace.”
—Matthew Katz, founder and CEO of CAMS LLC, a California company that provides software for online gambling to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review on Pennsylvania’s proposed online gambling law
