Do six figures in fines for underage gamblers getting into his casino in Pennsylvania show Sheldon Adelson's hypocrisy or buttress his case against full-blown online gaming?
That's the latest front in the war between advocates for web gaming and the Las Vegas Sands chairman.
His enemies have discovered $220,000 in fines at Sands Bethlehem since 2010. To wit, courtesy of the PA gaming regulators:
Six instances of underage individuals were permitted on gaming floor and proceeded to either and/or consume alcohol
$48,000
Total:
$220,000
Adelson's Singapore property also has run afoul of regulators, paying the equivalent of $35,000 in fines for similar transgressions since 2012.
Because Adelson has argued underage gamblers will easily be able to access online gaming sites, his foes have pounced on this information to accuse him of hypocrisy. As one casino executive succinctly put it: "Glass houses and all."
Not so, says Adelson spokesman Ron Reese, who says the fines make Adelson's point about the greater dangers lurking in cyberspace.
"It actually strongly reinforces Mr. Adelson's point about the dangers of bringing a casino into every home and dorm room," Reese said. "If a live casino, with millions of dollars of surveillance equipment, trained staff, and policies and procedures in place to prevent underage gambling, can unfortunately still have a handful of young people beat the system, think what they could do online without any of those protections?"
Reese added that Sands Bethlehem "hosts millions of visitors a year and while even 20 cases of underage gambling or drinking is too many, the property stops, turns away or nabs a far greater amount than that because of the policies and procedures in place to prevent it. Additionally, we urged the PA Gaming Board, for stronger punishment, including a prolonged loss of a drivers license, for those caught. What protections or deterrents will nameless, faceless online casinos have at their disposal? Once again, the other side has picked a supposed issue which does nothing more than reinforces the views of those who oppose Internet gambling."
Do six figures in fines for underage gamblers getting into his casino in Pennsylvania show Sheldon Adelson's hypocrisy or buttress his case against full-blown online gaming?
That's the latest front in the war between advocates for web gaming and the Las Vegas Sands chairman.
His enemies have discovered $220,000 in fines at Sands Bethlehem since 2010. To wit, courtesy of the PA gaming regulators:
DATE OF FINE
VIOLATION
AMOUNT OF FINE
September 2013
Four instances of underage gambling
$56,000
March 2013
Six instances of underage individuals were permitted on gaming floor and proceeded to either and/or consume alcohol
$68,000
May 2012
Four instances of underage gambling
$48,000
June 2010
Six instances of underage individuals were permitted on gaming floor and proceeded to either and/or consume alcohol
$48,000
Total:
$220,000
Adelson's Singapore property also has run afoul of regulators, paying the equivalent of $35,000 in fines for similar transgressions since 2012.
Because Adelson has argued underage gamblers will easily be able to access online gaming sites, his foes have pounced on this information to accuse him of hypocrisy. As one casino executive succinctly put it: "Glass houses and all."
Not so, says Adelson spokesman Ron Reese, who says the fines make Adelson's point about the greater dangers lurking in cyberspace.
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