Vol. 4, No. 3, March 2008
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They Said It
“You know what’s pretty embarrassing as a state? Six months ago we kicked the gambling industry out of the state. And now we’re stepping in and doing the exact same thing we threw them out for. This is crazy. It just makes no sense.”
— Rob Walgate, vice president of the anti-gaming group Ohio Roundtable, on Governor Ted Strickland’s plan to fill a $733 million budget gap by legalizing electronic keno at bars, racetracks and veterans’ halls across Ohio, where racetrack slots were defeated last November
“We’re an interesting industry because we want tough regulations.”
—American Gaming Association President
Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., on his advice to gaming officials in Macau to adopt Nevada-style regulations
“If you make the mistake of trying to control the financial hit you are going to take, you might as well try to hold a wave on the sand. You’re much better off thinking about the long term, and thinking about how you’d want to be treated in those circumstances.”
— Alan Feldman, senior vice president of public affairs for MGM Mirage, on how the company treated guests following the January 25 fire at the Monte Carlo, after which MGM Mirage gave guests free rooms in its other Strip casinos and helped pay for medications left behind during the evacuation
“The Big Four compact opponents had reasonable arguments, but people focused on how much money we’d get. People are really worried about the economy and have no moral qualms about gambling. They’d rather have the money come here than Nevada.”
— Barbara O’Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at California State University, Sacramento, explaining why California voters last month OK’d four gaming compacts that will bring the state $3 billion or more in first-time shared revenue
