Casino News: World’s Richest Casino Exec Opposes Online Gambling

The richest casino executive in the world, Sheldon Adelson, has come forward saying he opposes online gambling. This is because he is dubious that current technology is enough to stop minors making wagers over the Internet.

Sheldon is chief of the casino industry’s biggest publicly-traded firm, which runs resorts in Las Vegas, Singapore, Macau, Bethlehem, and Las Vegas Sands. However, his words are a personal viewpoint, and not those of his company, a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson says Adelson had not communicated with the company's board about his view, and the board has not yet formulated a plan for online gambling.

The opposition to online gambling comes at a time when other operators, including MGM Resorts International, and Caesar's Entertainment, are joining together to legalise online poker, and other forms of online gambling.

Online poker has been illegal in the United States since 2006 and financial institutions have been prevented from processing such transactions.

The pro-poker lobby in the States is now actively pursuing legislation that would allow online poker sites to once again to operate within its borders.

CEO of the American Gaming Association, Frank Fahrenkopf, met with Adelson to discuss the issue.

He said in a statement, “Sheldon has long had concerns about this issue, and it is perfectly within his right to make this decision. However, the AGA, at the direction of our board of directors, will continue to support federal legislation to allow states to license and regulate online poker.”

The thorny arguments for and against the legalisation of online poker has heated up in recent months, although the Association wants federal legislation, which allows individual states to decide whether or not they should offer poker to its inhabitants.