Mark Blandford Hits Out at Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson

Sportingbet founder  and MD of  igaming venture capital investment firm Burlywood Capital Mark Blandford has hit out at comments made by Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson criticizing igaming operations. Adelson whose gambling ventures include casinos in Singapore, Macau and Las Vegas, wrote in Frobes Business magazine that “online gambling is a societal train wreck waiting to happen”. Adelson additionally encouraged the United States Congress to make the igaming practices illegal.

Sheldon Adelson argued igaming could possibly kill the land-based gambling sector, saying in his Forbes article the hit on other commercial casinos, Native American casinos, and racetrack-casinos “could be substantial and even lead to their eventual demise”. Finally he also attacked the social impact of online gambling calling it a plague and suggesting it could lead to underage and problem gambling, suggesting it was a threat to society and a toxin to the American people.

Ex CEO of Sportingbet Blandford, speaking to igaming industry news source EGR Magazine hit back at the comments made by Adelson. Blandford an investor in Igaming ventures, criticized the Sands CEO for failing to mention his companies previous attempts to crack the igaming space via the failed operations of Venetian Interactive.  “Adelson has tried to look like a modern day King Canute while wiping the history of Venetiaan Interactive,

The failed Venetian Interactive brand was awarded an igaming license by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission in 2003, however the operations failed to make an impact on the market. Currently Sands has not followed the suit of other land based operators such as MGM and Caesars by applying for Nevada online poker license, the first US legislation to allow online gaming to be practiced legally online.

Other industry figures  have also responded to Adelson’s Forbes magazine comments.  Rich Muny of lobby group the Poker Players Alliance describing comments connecting online poker’s popularity with gambling addiction as “totally wrong” further commenting on Adelson’s igaming remarks “He’s also wrong on the business aspects. Online poker is actually a great way for B&M [bricks and mortar] casinos to market their properties, We saw a huge boom in online poker in the last decade that was nothing but beneficial to B&M casinos. Imagine how much more so it would be for them if they ran the sites.”