Inside Asian Gaming

IAG FEB 2021年2月 亞博匯 32 COVER STORY coveted Marina Bay integrated resort license. In 2010, LVS rewarded Singapore’s faith withMarina Bay Sands, the prototype 21st-century integrated resort, an urban icon that remade the Lion City’s stodgy image with its infinity pool 57 stories in the sky. MBS has more than a million square feet of MICE space, and in contrast to Macau, Adelson’s convention-based IR model works in Singapore. In Macau, though, the conventions washout hardly mattered, given its location on the doorstep of China’s manufacturing center Guangdong Province and global finance center Hong Kong. “Imagine if Las Vegas had been located between New York and Detroit in the 1960s,” an associate recalled Adelson saying. “That’s Macau.” It would be wrong to sanctify Sheldon Adelson after his passing. He was renowned as a tough leader, a driven entrepreneur whose sometimes abrasive manner didn’t endear him to all, yet undoubtedly earned the respect of most. Certainly hewas a visionary, aman credited not only with reimagining Las Vegas as a leading convention destination but with transforming Asia’s aging casino town of Macau into the undisputed heavyweight champion it remains to this day. He led an incredible life that few of us could ever even dream of, let alone aspire to. Without him, Macau and Las Vegas (and the IRs of Singapore) would be mere shadows of what they are today. The legacy of Sheldon G Adelson is set to live long into the future. In his 70s and 80s, Adelson led Macau’s transformation from what he called “a seedy backwater” to the world’s leading casino destination, far surpassing the Las Vegas Strip’s gaming revenue. 已逾古稀之年的艾德森，帶領著澳門從他口 中所謂的「一潭未經開發的死水」，轉變為世 界首屈一指的娛樂場目的地，並且錄得遠超 拉斯維加斯大道的博彩收入。