\nBy HOWARD STUTZ
\n\tLAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
\n\tSteve Wynn was just the warm-up act.<\/p>\n
\tA day after Sheldon Adelson\u2019s \u201cgood friend\u201d told the Global Gaming Expo he opposes legalization of Internet gaming, the Las Vegas Sands Corp. chairman served as the headliner.<\/p>\n
\tIn a full-throated beatdown, Adelson, 81, enumerated all the reasons why he opposes legalization of Internet gaming. Adelson has invested millions to fund anti-Internet gaming coalitions and hire lobbyists to oversee a federal and state-by-state fight in opposition to the activity.<\/p>\n
\tAdelson, who ranked 12th on the Forbes 400 with a net worth of $32 billion, told the audience at the G2E\u2019s late Wednesday afternoon keynote session at his company\u2019s Sands Expo and Convention Center that he equates legal Internet gaming with legalization of marijuana. He considers both gateway drugs.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cJust because it\u2019s happening now isn\u2019t a justification for legalizing Internet gaming,\u201d Adelson told Global Gaming Business Magazine Editor Roger Gros, who asked several scripted questions prepared for the hourlong talk.<\/p>\n
\tAdelson addressed several topics, including Macau, Atlantic City and casino expansion in the U.S. But his opposition to Internet gaming drew the most buzz from the audience, many of whom work for companies seeking a foothold in the expanding interactive gaming landscape.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt\u2019s not a states\u2019 rights issue,\u201d Adelson said. \u201cThe Internet is all over the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tOn Tuesday, Wynn, chairman of Wynn Resorts Ltd., said he shares Adelson\u2019s conviction against Internet gaming. Wynn and his wife, Andrea, watched Adelson\u2019s talk from the front row, seated next to Adelson\u2019s wife, Miriam.<\/p>\n
\tAdelson said his views on Internet gaming haven\u2019t changed. He believes the activity can\u2019t be regulated to protect children from gambling online and it unfairly targets poor people. The access to Internet gaming sites is too easy through mobile phones and tablets.<\/p>\n
\tHe said his 2- and 3-year-old grandchildren know how to work a mobile device better than he does.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI just don\u2019t see any compelling reason to put a casino in 318 million hands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tOn other topics, Adelson said only Texas, South Florida and Tampa could be targets for new U.S. casino expansion.<\/p>\n
\tHe said he would have interest in opening a casino at the Meadowlands in New Jersey if the state adds gaming to the area.<\/p>\n
\tAdelson had zero interest in Massachusetts casino opportunities, despite growing up outside of Boston. He said Wynn, who won the Boston-area gaming license, will have much more success than other gaming company.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cMy friend Steve does a better job of building the mystique of a property than I do,\u201d Adelson said.<\/p>\n
\tAt the end of the talk, Adelson hoped his legacy will be his efforts to fund medical research and the funding he has given to Israel and Jewish causes.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By HOWARD STUTZ LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL Steve Wynn was just the warm-up act. A day after Sheldon Adelson\u2019s \u201cgood friend\u201d told the Global Gaming Expo he opposes legalization of Internet gaming, the Las Vegas Sands Corp. chairman served as the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8091\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}