“The hotel will feature a countdown clock timed to the unveiling of a new phase of development of City of Dreams. April 2018 will mark the opening of Macau’s new landmark: Morpheus. Alongside the opening of Morpheus, the Countdown Hotel will commence its ultimate rebranding journey.”
—Melco Resorts, in a teaser about the rebranding of the former Hard Rock Hotel at City of Dreams Macau, to be temporarily known as the Countdown
“Did Midiwo really do good research before tabling the bill? All this hullabaloo about betting! Let people do what they wish. People are so concerned about how others live their lives.”
—Giddy Loftus, Kenyan, responding on Twitter to a bill sponsored by Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo that would raise taxes on the country’s gaming industry
“The scale of the Lazarus operations is shocking. This level of sophistication is something that is not generally found in the cybercriminal world.”
—Kaspersky Lab, Moscow-based cyber-security firm, on hacking threats against casinos and banks that may originate with North Korea
“The most important thing is to have compliance and rules at the same level as Nevada. We want a clean casino and entertainment environment.”
—Satoshi Sakamoto,senior executive director of Konami Holdings Corporation, commenting that the newly legalized casino industry in Japan should begin with a strict regulatory regime
“Who the hell is going to corrupt an NFL quarterback when they make $25 million a year? What are they going to offer them? A new car?”
—Casino mogul Steve Wynn, on the absurdity of National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell’s argument that legal sports betting would endanger the integrity of football
“I’ve had a lot of people who said ‘let’s give it a shot. I’m hoping it can pass.”
—Chris Rosario, Connecticut representative who authored a bill that would allow a casino in Bridgeport
“Without a statewide, carved-in-stone policy on all casino gambling here, the argument goes, we’re perpetually vulnerable to characters like Scott and their highly paid, shamefully deceptive (yet ultimately successful) signature gatherers whose only objective is to get their scheme on the ballot.”
—Bill Nemetz, for the Press Herald, criticizing Maine for not having a law in place governing casinos, to prevent casino developers such as Shawn Scott from qualifying casino referenda
“For the first time in more than a century, we’ve shut down the 24-hour leaching of contaminants into the Mystic River and have made the soil on our site safe to use and enjoy.”
—Robert DeSalvio, president of Wynn Boston Harbor, commenting on the completion of seven months of cleaning contaminated soil along the Mystic River
“It seems that they are focused on growing those other aspects of their business. But at the end of the day if their players from poker or their name sour, as a result of squeezing the players, that is not going to be good for any aspect of their business. You could go play casino games or bet sports anywhere on the internet, you don’t have to do it on PokerStars. It’s still called PokerStars. The business was built on poker. So I feel like the more people have a bad taste in their mouth from their approach, they aren’t going to want to do anything on the site.”
—Bryn Kenney, poker pro to cardplayer.com on his decision to boycott PokerStars Championship Macau over changes PokerStars has made to its online and live tournaments
