In an amazing turn of events, this week’s gambling news finds that we’re discussing Las Vegas Sands online gambling ambitions! The company has made a major change to their web gambling philosophy and is wasting no time plotting a new, digital course after the passing of Sheldon Adelson. We also cover sports betting news and the end of an Atlantic City landmark.
Hello friends! And thanks so much for joining me on another edition of This Week in Gambling where our big story is coming out of Las Vegas! And it’s not only big… it’s unbelievable!
In the years leading up to his death, Las Vegas Sands CEO and President Sheldon Adelson fought online gambling tooth and nail in America, calling it a danger to society and a danger to children. In reality, his empire made billions and billions of dollars off the gambling industry… including his Las Vegas Sands online gambling casinos accepting bets over the Internet in the state of Nevada. Additionally, his casinos were fined multiple times for allowing underage gambling… so call me a skeptic.
Mr. Adelson passed away on January 11th. The Sands Corp named a new CEO shortly afterward. And now that new CEO is promising to take the company in a totally new direction: Online! Well, that didn’t take long!
Rob Goldstein is now at the helm, and he says it’s time for the Las Vegas Sands online gambling expansion. And while we all know that the death of Sheldon Adelson has a lot to do with the timing of this decision, so does basic economics: Last year profits for the Sands Corporation fell nearly $2.2 billion… and yes, I understand that had a lot to do with the lack of tourism from the pandemic. There was no one gambling, there was no one in their hotels or their restaurants, and let’s not forget the lost income from their Sands Convention Center.
However, I’m also quite certain that Mr. Goldstein sees the big picture. He knows that his competitors are already expanding into online gambling and making new partnerships. And that his Sands Corporation is late to the game and at risk of being left behind. So, after 15 years of Mr. Adelson fighting online gambling at every step, it took just 15 days after his death for his company to do a complete about face for online gambling. Pretty amazing stuff!
Also, the Super Bowl is set to be played this weekend, and predictions are a record amount of money will be bet on the game: Somewhere north of $500 million! And while most of those bets will take place in Nevada, that state is not the king of sports betting anymore! The new leader for sports betting in the United States is New Jersey, who took in over $6 billion in wagers just last year… followed by Nevada who took in about $4.2 billion worth of wagers.
Also, we have a new game review to share with you this week for the Ka-Ching Cash slot machine from Aristocrat, a 5 real 4 row game that comes in two versions: Xing Fu Coins and Vegas Neon! It has a “Hold and Spin” feature, along with five jackpots. Which jackpot you win is determined by filling the reels with Ka-Ching Cash symbols! You can find this review and hundreds more when you subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Finally this week, with Donald Trump now out of the White House, New Jersey apparently feels it’s time for him to get out of Atlantic City as well! And they plan to blow up whatever is left of his Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in just a few weeks. It will cost around $14 million to destroy the 900 room facility, and originally Mr. Trump had planned to attend the demolition… that is, until he discovered that New Jersey officials actually wanted him inside the building at the time of the explosion. So he passed.
