Inside Asian Gaming

IAG FEB 2021年2月 亞博匯 26 COVER STORY once the redoubt of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, in 1988 for US$128 million. Adelson built the Sands Expo and Convention Center and, inspired by honeymooning in Venice with his second wife, Israeli physician Miriam Adelson, commissioned The Venetian. “He and Miriammoved forward in the face of lots of industry skepticism. They never took their eyes off the ball and pushed everyone on the project team in every aspect,” The Innovation Group founder Steve Rittvo, a consultant on The Venetian, said. Opened in 1999, the US$1.5 billion Venetian became the Strip’s largest property with 3,000 suites – the 1,013 suite Venezia Tower added in 2003 made it the world’s largest hotel for a time. A 120,000-square foot (11,160 square meter) casino and 500,000-square foot shopping mall were attached to its 2.25 million- square foot convention center. Venetian’s location facing Mirage with its erupting volcano fueled a public feud between Adelson and Mirage founder Steve Wynn. The rough-edged, dyspeptic Adelson and perfectly coiffed Ivy Leaguer Wynn presented a textbook contrast, but the frenemies were both Vegas iconoclasts who bucked gaming’s corporatization trend and upset the status quo. Wynn overturned the cheap rooms and buffets model in favor of luxury; Adelson added MICE to that foundation. Their rivalry was destined to span the Pacific. PURSUING MACAU When Portugal’s colonial regime left Macau in December 1999, the new China-endorsed administration proposed casino liberalization, ending Stanley Ho’s gaming monopoly. Initially skeptical, LVS became an enthusiastic suitor, even though Adelson described the city as “a seedy backwater of a gambling den. It was prostitution infested, crime infested, triad infested. Everything that you don’t want a gaming destination to be … was going on in Macau.” Much about LVS’s early efforts in Macau emerged through its 15-year legal dispute with consultant Richard Suen over his contribution to those efforts. 抵抗博彩業內企業化的趨勢，衝擊當時的權威。永利摒棄提供低 廉客房及自助餐的營運模式，並且走上奢華之路；艾德森就在前 者之上加上會展元素。他們的戰役最終無可避免地延伸到太平洋 的另一端。 轉戰澳門 當葡國殖民政權在1999年12月離開澳門後，得到中國支持 的特區政府提議開放賭權，結束何鴻燊在當地博彩業界的壟斷地 位。LVS從一開始抱著懷疑態度，最終亦成為滿懷熱誠的投標者， 雖然艾德當時曾形容澳門為「一潭未經開發如死水般的博彩小 鎮。當時的澳門充斥著娼妓、罪案及黑幫。所有在一個博彩目的地 不應該發生的事，都在澳門發生。」 拉斯維加斯金沙早年為得到澳門賭牌所作出的努力，都在該 公司與顧問孫志達那長達15年、關於後者對於金沙所作貢獻的法 律訴訟中被翻出來。LVS曾於2008及2013年分別對於內華達州的 陪審員裁定該公司須給予孫志達4400萬美元及7000萬美元的決 定上訴。雙方於2019年3月第三輪審訊中作供一天後就達成和解， 但未有公佈協議內容。 孫志達幫助LVS在2001年7月與北京領導會面。艾德森當時就 時任中國副總理錢其琛保證會讓更多內地人到訪澳門感到驚訝。 作為回應，LVS表示可以發揮其於華盛頓的影響力，阻止當時美國 國會反對北京舉辦2008年奧運的議案，雖然到了最後，有關的投 票只是由於國會的時間表而非LVS而無法進行。隨後的一些不幸 事件與錯誤決定，差點令艾德森的澳門夢提早完結。 從北京回來後，艾德森出現周邊神經病變的症狀。這種神經 肌肉失調疾病令他在站立及說話方面出現困難。療程令到他不能 十分有效率地工作。他形容當時自己有六個月時間都「有些癡癡 呆呆的」，包括在2001年底澳門賭牌競投的時刻。拉斯維加斯金沙 時任總裁及營運總裁WilliamWeidner於是就在澳門主持大局。 2001年的「九一一」襲擊重創拉斯維加斯的收入，因此LVS需 要一個財政上的夥伴，以便向澳門交出5億美元的保證金。當時該 公司選擇了台灣的中華開發工業銀行，是國民黨的財務分支。有