“We looked at Nevada, New Jersey, Singapore, Macau, Australia and South Korea for how much they charge for personal violation versus a company violation. We gave a recommendation of $250,000 as a ceiling per violation.”
—Edward Deleon Guerrero, Commonwealth Casino Commission, on a proposed penalty, later reduced, of $800,000 for casino infractions in the Northern Mariana Islands
“A very large junket provider recorded their highest rolling chip ever for Melbourne in the month of October, while business in Sydney for Chinese VIPs is also reported to be growing substantially on last year.”
—Morgan Stanley analysts, who say the VIP market in Australia, which took a hit after the 2016 arrests of Crown employees in China, is now in “good shape”
“Why would an 84-year old man with broken ribs want to travel half way around the world? The answer is the same—280 million customers.”
—Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports, on recently injured Sheldon Adelson’s plan to visit his Venetian Macao, which just marked its 10th anniversary
“Gaming will continue to be the primary industry for Macau. These tourist offerings can assist the development of the gaming industry in Macau, but are not, in and of themselves, meaningful without the casino.”
—Vitaly Umansky, analyst, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., debunking the notion that gaming will ever be less important to Macau’s economy
“We don’t need to wait for Golden Week holiday to have the Golden Week revenue. These entertainment events have helped us boost betting volumes.”
—Alvin Chau, Suncity Group, on how the junket employs nongaming to stoke gaming, as in the use of charter jets to bring clients to Macau for parties
“I backed the idea of having 85 percent locals working in the mid-to-high-level positions in casinos, but I truly think you all can take a more active stance to boost this figure up to 90 percent in the future.”
—Ella Lei, Macau lawmaker, on goals for local employment of the SAR’s Five-Year Plan
“Here’s what we know, incontrovertibly, irretrievably and undeniably: 1. We are a nation of gamblers. 2. Gamblers like to gamble. 3. Even when gamblers are not allowed—by law—to gamble, they will find a way to gamble. You can’t stop people from doing what they do.”
—Washington Post columnist Norman Chad, commenting that the federal ban on sports betting should be removed because it does not prevent people from gambling
“Gateway’s proposed casino would be a significant new addition to Sudbury’s economic infrastructure that currently includes sports, music and entertainment, theatres, shopping and restaurants, and would act as a draw for the northeastern region of Ontario.”
—Paul Burns, interim president chief executive officer of the Canadian Gaming Association on the proposed Gateway Casino in Sudbury, Ontario
“But OLG keeps trying to ram it down their throat, and even if it means carving away 1,400 jobs here in Niagara to help Woodbine, they’re willing to do that. To me, that’s cannibalism, and it’s disgusting that anyone would propose that as a business model.”
—Jim Diodati, mayor of Niagara Falls, Ontario, on the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s plans to possibly close a casino in his city and move it to Toronto
“Once the petitions are denied, we hope the commonwealth and the town will take the tribe up on its longstanding offers to coordinate efforts between our governments so that the entire community will benefit from the tribe’s economic development activities.”
—Tribal Chairman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, calling on opponents of a casino on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts to work with the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe if the Supreme Court rules in its favor
