Sheldon Adelson in June 2010. Photo from Bectrigger / Wikipedia
Adrianne Jeffries takes a look at billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his campaign against Internet gaming:
In February, an attack ad titled "Don’t Let the Games Begin" started popping up in online gambling forums. The ad opens on two shadows shaking hands in a dark city alley. We see a distraught mother at her laptop, a young child at a computer in a dim bedroom, police cars with sirens. A narrator with a scaly voice comes on. "An established al-Qaeda poker network could extract enough untraceable money from the United States in just a few days to fund several 9/11-sized attacks," he says. "Say no to internet gambling." The message is clear: internet gambling will fund terrorism and destroy your family. Players reacted strongly, calling it "ridiculous hysterics" and "distortion at its best." "Get a life, Sheldon!" one commenter wrote. Sheldon is of course Sheldon Adelson, the 80-year-old billionaire casino owner who has declared war on internet gambling, breaking with the rest of the industry. He’s now pledged to spend "whatever it takes" to fight the spread of online casinos, and no one knows why.Get the Story:
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