“The casino owner does not have any moral objections to gambling, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to his astro turf-funded operation designed to overturn the gambling laws in a half-dozen states. Adelson spouts out saintly rhetoric when he criticizes the bill, but the real reason he is advancing it is so that he can increase more of his personal market share over the gambling industry.”
—Forbes columnist Christopher Versace, on Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson’s continuing crusade to ban online gaming
“It doesn’t matter whether you are for or against sports betting, you should be against the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. The federal government has correctly left it up to the states to decide whether to allow casino gambling. It should do the same for sports betting.”
—Editorial in the Biloxi Sun Herald calling for the repeal of the 1992 federal law banning sports betting in all but four states
“There has been heavy internal pressure to focus on international VIP gaming. It’s the gold standard within Crown, it’s the performance that staff are judged on, and we’ve been warned for several years that we’ve been sailing too close to the wind in China.”
—Crown Resorts official, anonymously telling the Sydney Morning Herald the firm is bracing for fallout following the arrests of 18 staffers in China
“We were able to provide advice and support. We provided messages from their families. There is an anti-corruption agenda of President Xi Jinping and gambling is one of the areas of interest, so we are subject to the laws of China.”
—Julie Bishop, Australian foreign minister, on the arrests of three Crown Resorts employees for alleged “gambling crimes” in China
“Organized criminal groups are involved in serious criminal activities such as unlawful remote gambling and can pose a serious threat to Singapore’s safety and security. We will spare no efforts to disrupt and dismantle these organized criminal groups and deprive them of their ill-gotten gains.”
—Tan Chye Hee, Singapore’s deputy commissioner of police, on the arrests of 33 people in an illegal online gaming operation in the city-state
“The view in Macau right now is China is trying to crack down on the foreign casinos trying to poach their players to go overseas. At the end of the day, Macau is a part of China. The reason for Macau’s success is China. Our hope is that for home-grown Macau operators, we would be safe.”
—Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO, Melco Crown Entertainment, in an oblique reference to the arrests of Crown Resorts employees in China. Crown is run by his partner James Packer
“Contrary to what was predicted, the study did not find a clear link between potential addiction and negative effects on health; however, more research grounded in open and robust scientific practices is needed to learn if games are truly as addictive as many fear.”
—Dr. Andrew Przybylski from the Oxford Internet Institute, co-author of a study of internet video gamers and internet gaming addiction
“The town is deeply divided over this. It makes all of us who are appointed officials for the town traverse the roadway here with some caution. We want to make sure we’re accommodating the views of everyone.”
—Matthew Wojcik, town administrator of Tiverton, Rhode Island, commenting on the aftermath of the vote to authorize a slots parlor near the border with Massachusetts
“Keno is extremely big in Massachusetts. The state is somewhat unique in how successful Keno is.”
—Clyde Barrow, a University of Texas professor who has long been an expert on gaming in New England, commenting on Keno’s continued success in Massachusetts
“Everything I’ve been hearing is it’s an organized group and that they have paid petition signature gatherers, and everyone is kind of wondering who is paying for it. We haven’t received any filing that would tell us who might be doing any of the payments as far as getting signatures.”
—Elk Grove, California, City Clerk Jason Lindgren, commenting on a mysterious petition effort to stop an Indian casino from being built at a mall in the city
“It makes a small, albeit necessary, change to current law which ensures that casino operators and employees are able to enjoy the same pastime as every other Ohioan is permitted in regards to gaming.”
—Ohio State Senator Bill Seitz, speaking in favor of his bill that would allow employees of the state’s four casinos to gamble in casinos where they don’t work
