No Casinos<\/a>, John Sowinski, attacked the practice in the state of Florida, which is currently seeking to expand its casino offerings beyond tribal gaming and racing, saying: \u201cThe gambling industry is the one industry that seems to get away with this conflict of interest carte blanche.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nManaging director of Spectrum Gaming Michael Pollock – who represents one of the biggest gambling consultant firms in the U.S., which recently completed a study for Florida – negated the claims, however, saying, \u201cYou cannot be in this business if you\u2019re willing to entertain conflicts of interest or even an appearance of a conflict.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe make it clear from the outset that we are not necessarily going to tell you what you want to hear, we\u2019re going to tell you what you need to know. And we will not entertain an engagement in which a client seeks a particular outcome,\u201d Pollock added.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMGM CEO Jim Murren says the allegations are based on an outsider\u2019s misconception of the gambling industry, which he says is close-knit: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThis is not a huge industry, and gaming law is highly specialized,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are only maybe four or five firms that are experts in gaming law, and we know them all, and we\u2019ve probably used them all.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nIt seems that the casino consulting business is somewhat incestuous, but whether that\u2019s simply the nature of the industry or something more sinister, is up for debate depending on your views. What is clear, however, is that it\u2019s big business. Spectrum Gaming began life in a New Jersey basement back in 1996 and has since been named one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. Its website declares that: \u201cGovernments, gaming operators, developers and investors in five continents have retained Spectrum, and we stand ready to serve clients through our offices in Atlantic City, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Macau, Manila and Tokyo.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Opponents of gambling in the U.S. have become critical of the way that some new state jurisdictions are employing consultants who – they say – have hidden agendas and are often employed by pro-gambling lobbies. Too Close for Comfort Cash-strapped states are turning to industry consultants to advise them about whether to legalize gambling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":18952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Gaming Consultants and the Casino Industry Too Inbred, Critics Claim<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n