According to the Macau Daily Times, Las Vegas Sands "has yet to receive government approval to develop more than half of the parcels of land it has commenced developing in Cotai." According to the company, part of the problem is that it hasn't processed its own paperwork yet.

If (and it's probably a really big "if") the concessions aren't granted, Sands can wave bye-bye to its Shangri-La-, St. Regis-, Sheraton-, Raffles-, Fairmont-, Hilton- and Conrad-flagged hotel projects -- not to mention all the money invested in them thereto, to the tune of as much as $623 million. Sands is probably erring on the side of alarmism here, seeing as the Macao government strung PBL Melco along right into February on its City of Dreams project (below). In Macao, it seems, one must build first and hope Peking smiles upon you.

Then again, it would be a mighty cruel joke if -- after predicting there would be fewer casinos in Macao -- it was Adelson's casinos that were the ones to get the kibosh.

Sheldon Adelson's erstwhile business partners, meantime, are positioning themselves for potential legitimization of online gambling in China. If that happens (and, again, it's a stretch), China will eat the Western world's lunch, where 'Net-betting action is concerned.

But not if MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment, GTECH and Station Casinos have anything to say about it. Along with the American Gaming Association, they dropped well over $800K into the lobbying kitty during the last six months of 2007 alone. Much or (in some cases) all of that went into the Internet Gambling Regulation & Enforcement Act, along with the Internet Gaming Study Bill. I'm in favor of the first bill but, as for the second, I'd just as soon the companies and associations in question paid for it out of their own pockets instead of John Q. Public's.

30,000 jobs? That's how many Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick says will be created by casino construction in the Bay State. However, he may be getting there via some fuzzy math. Las Vegas Sands, hardly known as a member of the Glass Half-Empty Club, projects roughly 21,000 new construction jobs.

Isle of Capri may start looking like an attractive takeover target, now that its stock is at its lowest ebb in seven years. Isle's Florida racino has been a disappointment and a brand that was considered something of a trendsetter in the early years of non-Vegas casinos is now derided as "Pile of Debris." (The Motley Fool finds cause for optimism, though.)

The question is, are there any potential buyers other than James Packer who'd have the scratch to start scarfing up 18 mid-market casinos, mostly in the Mississippi River basin, and who'd want them -- as a strategic play, that is?