I was not unhappy to hear of the death this week of Sheldon Adelson, who gave enormous amounts of money to Trump and other right-wingers, thus giving him enormous influence over public policy.
When the news broke, I emailed my friend Nolan Dalla, who (like me) has for many years refused to set foot inside the Venetian in Las Vegas because it was owned by Adelson’s company, the Sands Corporation. I asked Nolan if this meant that we might return to that resort. He replied:
In time, probably. However, Adelson still holds a sword over the empire.
His wife, Miriam is arguably worse than he is on many issues, and her being a so-called “expert” on addiction issues, it’s unlikely she backs off any anti-online gambling position. This presumes she continues to be active as the majority shareholder of Sands, Inc.
Moreover, his spokesperson (one of the Venetian execs) is also heavily vested in the fight, so he’s not going anywhere for a while.
Hence, I say it’s advisable to “wait and see.” Assuming Adelson’s death means a reversal or any less culpability would be a huge, uninformed, naive decision.
Nolan’s right, of course, and I have no idea when — or even if — I’ll even get back to Las Vegas now that my interest in playing poker has evaporated. But I do remember the Venetian’s poker room as being home of some of the softest games in town, so I’ll have to just hold onto those memories.