Another day, another lawsuit against Sheldon Adelson. Ho-hum. This one, however, is playing out on a relatively obscure battlefront in Adelson's multi-national courtroom wars: Tel Aviv. According to Haaretz, this is the fifth lawsuit related to Adelson's capture of a casino concession in Macao. Sadly, it strikes an all-too-familiar chord for Adelson watchers.

Specifically, ex-Adelson rep Moshe Hananel claims he brought the Macanese opportunity to the Las Vegas Sands CEO's attention and that Adelson welshed on a promised payment, plus commissions. One of the other four lawsuits alleges that Adelson used his influence with then-Rep. Tom Delay to block human rights legislation that might have complicated his Chinese bid. At least one of the other litigants also claims he was shortchanged.

Las Vegans well remember the years of ugly litigation (and even legislation) that occurred when Adelson refused to pay his general contractor on The Venetian. According to Jeff Burbank's history of Nevada gambling regulation, License to Steal, when Adelson came before the Nevada Gaming Control Board in 1989, its investigators "found his name attached to about 100 civil suits, mainly dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. Many of the lawsuits came from companies or people to whom Adelson owed money," prompting NGCB member Gerald Cunningham to to exclaim, "It just goes on and on. It is like you never paid a bill." (pp. 137-8)

Nineteen years later, Adelson is still fighting that perception.

Wall Street, meanwhile, is reported to be looking askance at spending $800 million on a Pennsylvania slot parlor. (Time was, you could get a nice Vegas megaresort for that kind of dough. Not anymore.) Sands Bethworks is costing almost three times as much as Penn National's Harrisburg racino and has already experienced a 52% cost overrun over a three-year period.

On the flip side, $800 million is practically pocket change compared to Sands' $12 billion, ever-expanding commitment in China. Also, as Oppenheimer & Co.'s David Katz acknowledges, the Street can be "a little too short-sighted and narrow for a company like Las Vegas Sands."

Besides, Adelson has already managed to rewrite history, so far as the Street is concerned. Morning Call's article faultily reminiscences that, "It was Adelson who turned upside down the Las Vegas formula of cheap rooms and cheap food, instead building expensive, luxurious rooms and extravagant casinos ... "

Uhhhhhh, no. That'd be a fellow by the name of Steve Wynn. He built a few places 'round here that are worth checking out.