“With Tara Sweeney’s nomination, the Secretary is showing he means business when it comes to reforming the BIA and improving the delivery of services to Indian people.”
—John Berrey, chairman of the Quapaw Tribe in Oklahoma, reacting to the nomination of Tara Mac Lean Sweeney, an Alaska native, to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs
“This gambling initiative is not an open or fair process,” LePage said. “In fact, it’s yet another case of big-money, out-of-state interests using Maine voters to get a sweet deal.”
—Governor Paul LePage of Maine, attacking Question 1, a ballot measure that would authorize a casino in York County
“Pala was really the first property in Southern California to offer a complete casino resort experience. All of our competitors have elevated their game and the challenge with this expansion is not meeting the existing expectations of our guests, it’s exceeding them.”
—Bill Bembenek, chief executive officer of Pala Casino, remarking on the casino expansion project, which broke ground last week
“I came into public life as a high-profile whistle blower. I know how difficult and dangerous it can be.”
—Andrew Wilkie, Australian MP, who went public with claims by former Crown Resorts employees that the Melbourne casino tampers with pokies
“It’s going to feel very different when robots do security screenings and can speak 20 languages to travelers at airports.”
—Jay Chun, chairman, Paradise Entertainment Group, who says Macau must go all-in on advanced technologies to become a leading tourist destination
“We are thrown challenges all the time. We have to live with what the situation is.”
—Grant Bowie, president, MGM China, on the August typhoon that will delay the opening of its new resort on Macau’s Cotai Strip to 2018
“If we’re so fortunate that the government will award us a license and tells us, ‘You’re going here or there,’ we’ll be glad to take it. We’re just very eager.”
—Rob Goldstein, president and CEO, Las Vegas Sands Corp., on his company’s willingness to cooperate with the Japan government to win an IR license
“A Russian casino operator has written an open letter to President Vladimir Putin asking him (a) not to close the Azov City casino zone, and (b) don’t send me to Siberia.”
—CalvinAyre.com, on casino owner Maxim Smolentsev, who has pleaded with Putin not to shut down his Shambala casino and two others in Azov City
“A simulation of attacks should be conducted so the frontline workers are more skilled in handling emergency incidents.”
—Macau government officials, in a statement on preparedness in the event of a shooting attack in the city’s casino industry
“Even if New Jersey loses, PASPA is toast. The law was passed in 1992, when there was no World Wide Web, let alone internet gambling, daily fantasy sports or eSports. States and gaming operators will see that they can create coalitions in Congress on the state’s right issue of letting states make their own decisions about gambling.”
—Attorney and gaming law expert I. Nelson Rose, commenting in a blog that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which bans sports betting, is likely to be repealed even if the U.S. Supreme Court rejects the state of New Jersey’s challenge to the law
“We think that Virginia is still many, many years away (from opening casinos), so we think we can enjoy a geographic advantage.”
—Gordon Medecina, director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, in a presentation to a joint committee of Maryland lawmakers during which he predicted it would be five to 10 years before Maryland casinos may face any competition from bordering Virginia
“As for Bitcoin, if you look at how the value of this asset fluctuates, it’s dozens of percent up, then dozens of a percent down. An asset that can be available for an unqualified investor should not have such characteristics, because it’s worse than casinos. First, you earn, then you will lose everything and be left with nothing.”
—Maksim Oreshkin, Russian economic development minister, during an address at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Sochi
