Sheldon steps in it again and again

Sheldon Adelson‘s love of authoritarianism has made him another enemy. At the latest Israel American Conference, Adelson rhapsodized, “God talked about all the good things in life. He didn’t talk about Israel remaining as a democratic state, otherwise Israel isn’t going to be a democratic state — so what?” Anti-Defamation League National Director Abe Foxman called Adelson’s dismissal of democratic values “disturbing,” adding, “the founders of Israel got it exactly right when they emphasized the country being both a Jewish and democratic state. Any initiatives that move Israel away from either value would ill-serve the state and people of Israel.”

It’s been that kind of season for Adelson, whose childish side emerged in a denunciation of Genting Group for daring to comp aggressively and extend too much credit. “Maybe one day, they will get used to competing on the basis of a quality product, if they ever build one, and they won’t have to buy the business,” he sniped petulantly. The problem? Weak VIP play in Macao has made its way to Singapore, where the owner of Marina Bay Sands finds himself on the defensive.

As for Adelson’s assurances that the problem was merely cyclical, Genting President Tan Hee Teck took a poke at that last summer, saying, “I suppose some operators may not want to admit it, but at least from our side, we believe that the situation will continue to be quite challenging at least for the next 6 to 12 months.” When VIP play represents 50% of your revenue base (with half of that coming from China), tempers fray quickly.

Chinese tourism to Singapore is down 30% across the first half of the year, which — by interesting coincidence — almost matches the diminution of VIP play seen by Sands in its latest quarter. (No, the two time periods don’t overlap.) Thirty also happens to be the percentage by which Genting Singapore stock is down, as the company strangles on waning business. With 80% of both Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa‘s income derived from gambling, the severity of the VIP crunch is obvious. Bad casino debts are also far outstripping new revenue. And collecting debts incurred in Singapore is no picnic.

* “Komeito Secretary General Yoshihisa Inoue has said Japan should pursue economic growth without depending on gambling.” With coalition partners like that, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe doesn’t need adversaries. Continuing to play skittles with the timetable for legalizing casinos, members of the Liberal Democratic Party have sent it into the first, as-yet-unscheduled Diet session of 2015. That leaves a slim hope of opening casinos by the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, but not much more.

* Please fence me in: Ever wonder how the State of New Jersey keeps its online casinos secure? Here’s a rundown. It’s just the sort of thing to confound Sheldon Adelson.