Lies, Lies, and Videotape — Sheldon Adelson Skewers Poker Players Again

Yesterday, Sheldon Adelson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns and operates The Venetian Luxury Hotel Resort Casino in Las Vegas, appeared as the keynote speaker at the 2014 Global Gaming Expo, which is the world’s largest casino industry annual convention.

I attended.

To put it kindly, Mr. Adelson’s 50-minute talk received what I would classify as a lukewarm response.  Unlike the Sands Expo Center’s main ballroom which was filled to full standing-room-only capacity the day before, when fellow casino mogul Steve Wynn spoke to a similar gathering, the allure of Mr. Adelson’s appearance filled only about two-thirds of the seats in the room, despite ideal placement as the prime time speaker on the show’s biggest afternoon (Wednesday).  Some attendees boycotting?  Mass disinterest?  Perhaps those who didn’t bother to show up to see the man who rules his mighty kingdom in the flesh already realized what most of the rest of us didn’t — that Mr. Adelson is a selfish, rambling bore.  Despite this, one might have expected this far-more controversial public figure and political lightning rod to draw a significantly bigger crowd, but that didn’t happen (see photo evidence at the conclusion of this article).

Moreover, Mr. Adelson’s confusing remarks and bizarre commentary about new technologies, including an outright attack on professional and semi-pro poker players, weren’t particularly well-received by a sizable percentage of the crowd, this judging by the mixed applause and occasional nervous laughter instigated by his often bland comments.  At least half the room sat just as I did, mostly in silent protest amplified by boredom throughout.  When the polarizing topic of legalizing online gambling and poker came up towards the end of his talk, only about 15 percent of the crowd applauded (twice — perhaps even orchestrated judging by the army of suits around him which “spontaneously” applauded like trained seals on command), following what amounted to a rambling 12 minute, 30-second single “answer” which essentially served as the only “question” that was posed to Mr. Adelson during what turned out to be the phantom Q/A session.

Mr. Adelson accepted no comments nor queries from the audience, yet was introduced by one of his minions as “a man who doesn’t fear tough questions.”

What you’re about to watch (below) is the complete unedited video excerpt from Mr. Adelson’s speech today when he was asked specifically about online gambling and poker.  My rebuttal is included as well, captioned in a text format.  Some of it’s meant to be humorous.  Other comments are fact-based.  Most of the other parts of the speech not in this video were mostly boring stuff about his casinos, the Asian market, and whatever seemed to pop into his head at the moment.

Roger Gros, my good pal from my time spent in Atlantic City years ago (now the publisher of Global Gaming Business), served as the onstage moderator.  Roger did an admirable job, probably as best he could given the confines of what was pre-approved for discussion, and the limited amount of time Mr. Adelson agreed to appear in public before a live audience (which didn’t quite fulfill one hour).  During the exchange, Mr. Adelson interrupted the moderator multiple times, essentially making a mockery out of the “discussion.”

Also note Mr. Adelson’s open hostility towards poker players, particularly those who play the game for a living.  He’s dead-set against anyone making money in poker, evidenced by what you will hear.  These are his views in his own words.  Those remarks on poker come near the very end of the video.

Once again, I pose this question — how can anyone who loves the game and/or calls themselves a professional or semi-pro poker player patronize a Sheldon Adelson-owned casino, and particularly its poker room? 

What’s most troubling about Mr. Adelson’s self-serving position are the blatant contradictions.  His position is a matter of public record.  He rants and rails against government restrictions on business.  He champions free markets and free enterprise.  He insists on letting business do what it wants, without government oversight.  Except when it comes to protecting his interests and profits.  Then, he wants the government to ban competition and protect his monopoly.  What a hypocrite.

After the online question was asked by the moderator, I walked out on the speech while Mr. Adelson was talking and in mid-sentence.  Once I reached the very rear of the ballroom, I was pleasantly surprised to see a steady stream of others who were also leaving early.  Once the online gambling issue came up and was addressed (poorly), there seemed to be little interest to many who came and wasted nearly an hour.

Frankly, except for this rare segment, the rest of the speech was a bore, appropriate given the man who delivered it.

Note 1:  This video was shot with an iPhone from about 12 rows back from the stage.  Audio should be of acceptable quality.  The large video screens also help us to follow the exchange.

Note 2:  I want to thank some people I’ve been following on Twitter this week at G2E, especially on this hot topic.  Thanks to — Casino City Vin, Howard Stutz, Steve Ruddock, Sue Schneider, and Marco Valerio

DIRECT LINK TO YOUTUBE AT SHELDON ADELSON ATTACKS POKER PLAYERS AGAIN 2014 G2E

Photo:  Mr. Adelson is still speaking, but you can see all the empty seats in the room, as well as others, walking out in the middle of the presentation once his 12-minute rant against online gambling and poker was finished.