“The bill passed by an overwhelming, bipartisan 38-12 vote, and will go to the House for consideration. Casinos might hope to find some support there against the Senate’s extortion, but they are more likely to learn the lesson that Fredo Corleone learned the hard way when he sided with Moe Greene against his brother Michael, who warned him: ‘Don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family again.’”
—Editorial in the Scranton Times-Tribune criticizing the high taxes and fees in the Pennsylvania Senate’s gaming expansion bill
“If you want them to be magnets for a younger audience, you need to put them where younger people tend to go, or make the space appeal to them. Slapping them in the middle of the slot floor isn’t going to get the job done.”
—Columnist Steve Ruddock, commenting in an opinion piece for OnlinePokerReport.com that skill-based games designed for millennials are failing because they are being treated like standard slot machines by operators
“The trajectory is good with sports betting and the trajectory with the leagues is good. But we don’t want to force the leagues to respond before all our collective work is done. The mistakes people make are to push the question before anyone is ready to answer.”
—American Gaming Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman, in an interview with CDC Gaming Reports, emphasizing that a patient, methodical approach is best in the effort to repeal the federal ban on sports betting
“This is the first time we participate in the legislative election. If elected, we hope we can table a trade union bill and push for better benefits for gaming workers. We want to voice our opposition against imported labor and call for a full smoking ban inside casinos.”
—Cloee Chao, director, casino workers’ group Professional Gaming of New Macau, the first gaming activist to run for legislative office in Macau
“It’s like when people ask me, ‘Do you think New York and London need an integrated resort?’ No, they don’t.”
—Lawrence Ho, owner, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, who says Tokyo should not be the site of one of Japan’s first integrated casino resorts
“The chief executive actually has the right to extend the contract period up to five years, but he must provide a reason to the public as to why he’s going to do so. This is a very high-level political concern. I don’t think the government easily exercises its rights of renewal.”
—Davis Fong, director, Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau on the hopes for renewal of the city’s Big 6 casino concessionaires
“While considering the issue, the commission discerned that gambling is very closely associated with betting. While considering legalization of betting, leaving aside gambling may render the whole exercise futile.”
—Law Commission of India, which is considering legal gaming in the country and has determined that gambling and betting are related
“In the eleventh hour, everyone wants a slice of the apple. To me, this would lead to the creation of more boutique casinos. I don’t want to see boutique casinos on every street corner of every town.”
—Heather Somers, Connecticut state senator, opposing attaching a “boutique casino” in Hartford to a bill that would authorize a third Indian casino in the state
“If this fits with that, we’re all for it, but we’re not about to jump in. It’s not ripe for the city of Bridgeport to jump in.”
—Av Harris, spokesman for Bridgeport, Connecticut mayor Joe Ganim, about whether he will support a tribal casino expansion bill that might include a place for a boutique Bridgeport casino
“A closed casino process ties Connecticut to an unreliable funding source that under the best scenario would likely continue to sink like a stone.”
—Richard Velky, chairman of the Schaghticoke tribe, which is demanding that the Connecticut legislature pass a bill that allows open bidding on a third casino
