A large serving of humble pie for Las Vegas Sands President William Weidner was on the menu as he handed over the keys to the University of Macau's new Adelson Advanced Education Center. No, he said, he didn't blame his company's financial problems on the Chinese government, as had been reported. Sands would be "less American" in its approach to developing Henquin Island. If people had misinterpreted Sands' confidence as an "over-direct, overpowering American attitude," it had been "humbled" now. (Topic for U of Macau students: "Las Vegas Sands as Metaphor for U.S. Foreign Policy, 2001-09." Discuss.)

Quoth Weidner, "all our earnings in Macao have stayed in Macao and were matched five times over by additional investments in Macao.” Ah, so they were cannibalizing Macanese revenue, rolling it into Cotai Strip™ expansion, after all.

Small wonder that Sands is resented within Macao if, as The Independent reports, it's been sweating employees' tips. Then again, the paper's report of $953 million in Macao casino profit last quarter is clearly out of wack. (The reporter himself seems unsure whether it's revenue or profit, though it's clearly the latter.)

As for the newly available Taiwan market, Weidner demurred. Finishing projects in Singapore (where the projections look inauspicious) and Macao are his priorities, he said. Given Sands' parlous financial state, it's now a moot point ... but did CEO Sheldon Adelson's comrades in Peking warn him away from Taiwanese expansion? Adelson had been sussing out casino prospects there.

Perhaps. After all, Melco Crown Entertainment CEO Lawrence Ho was quick to temper his own Taiwanese ambitions with the caveat, "we wouldn't want to do anything to piss [the Chinese government] off." Unfortunately for Melco Int'l and other Macao-centric gaming stocks, the market isn't buying the younger Ho's contention that visa expansion is just a few months away -- especially in light of recent gambling scandals that have led to, among other things, 15 executions [registration req'd]. Play too much Super Happy Fortune Cat and you might wind up in front of a firing squad, too, or at least doing a couple of dimes in the slammer.

Back home, the latest busted LBO play for the Golden Nuggets, combined with parent Landry's issuance of more debt, has knocked 48% off the stock price in less than a week. Considering that the last two tender offers for LNY shares went out at $21 and $13.50, respectively, that $7/share buyout offer should be coming along any day now.