Tag: sands

Did China Make Up a Gambling Suicide Story?
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Posted on: February 16, 2026, 11:30h.

Last updated on: February 16, 2026, 11:30h.
- China is warning its people not to gamble overseas
- The CPC cited a gambler’s recent suicide in Singapore, though no media or police report has detailed such an incident
Ahead of the Chinese New Year, China is warning its people that gambling while on holiday poses significant risks, including financial ruin and even suicide.

The New Year Lantern Festival, celebrating the Year of the Horse at Shanghai Yu Garden, is pictured on Feb. 11, 2026. China is warning its people to avoid gambling if traveling cross-border during the holiday period. (Image: Shutterstock)

China bans casino gambling everywhere on the mainland. The only place under China’s control where casinos are allowed is in Macau, a semi-autonomous Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic.

By law, Chinese citizens and residents are barred from gambling in foreign countries, though, of course, that doesn’t keep many from doing so while in Australia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Las Vegas.

The 2026 Chinese New Year is tomorrow, Feb. 17. The Year of the Fire Horse, the Spring Festival holiday period, which began Sunday, runs through Monday, Feb. 23. During the celebration, most workers are afforded paid time off and take their families on vacations, with Singapore, Macau, and other parts of Southeast Asia popular destinations.

China: Don’t Gamble Overseas

Chinese President Xi Jinping links cross-border gambling to heightened national security risks. China has always prohibited casinos from marketing their operations to mainlanders.

In one high-profile case in 2017, China imprisoned 19 employees of Australia-based Crown Resorts for promoting gambling trips Down Under. Jason O’Connor, then the head of Crown’s international VIP program, spent 18 months in a Chinese prison, often described as among the world’s most brutal detention centers.

With the Chinese New Year in full swing, the CPC, through its embassies, is reminding Chinese people not to gamble internationally. Casino.org obtained and translated the gambling warning issued by the Chinese Embassy in Singapore.

The Chinese Embassy in Singapore once again solemnly reminds Chinese tourists visiting Singapore and Chinese citizens in Singapore to strengthen their legal awareness and stay away from gambling,” read the notice from the Singaporean Chinese Embassy.

Singapore is home to two casinos in Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa.

Suicide Story Fabricated?

The Chinese Embassy in Singapore said gambling comes with significant risks to Chinese people. The Embassy cited a recent incident involving a Chinese tourist at Marina Bay Sands who killed himself after gambling.

Recently, a Chinese citizen jumped to his death after gambling at the Marina Bay Sands. The Embassy is guiding his family through the funeral arrangements,” the notice said.

However, there have been no local media or police reports of such a recent suicide at Marina Bay Sands. No story has been made public about any suicide within or from the integrated resort in months.

“In recent years, our Embassy has handled several deaths related to gambling and has previously issued relevant warnings. Gambling is strictly prohibited under Chinese law, and the amendment to the Criminal Law has formally criminalized cross-border gambling. Even if overseas casinos are legally operating, Chinese citizens who gamble across borders are suspected of violating Chinese law, especially those involved in organizing gambling activities, and will be held legally responsible. The Embassy and consulates cannot provide consular protection for illegal activities,” the statement continued.

“Participating in gambling leads to financial ruin, family breakdown, and even death. Cross-border gambling may also bring risks such as fraud, money laundering, kidnapping, illegal detention, human trafficking, and human smuggling,” the Embassy notice concluded.
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Devin O’Connor

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February 16, 2026
Macau Casino Workers Treated With One-Month Bonuses
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Posted on: January 11, 2026, 11:18h.

Last updated on: January 11, 2026, 11:18h.
- Five of the six casino operators in Macau have announced annual bonuses
- The one-time payments are for non-executive workers
- Macau enjoyed its best year since the pandemic in 2025
Macau casinos enjoyed a prosperous 2025, and the six gaming companies are sharing the riches with the people who made it all possible.

SJM Resorts’ Casino Lisboa is pictured in downtown Macau with Wynn Macau in the background. Casino employees at five of the six Macau casino companies have been confirmed for annual bonuses equal to one month’s pay. Sands is expected to join the handful in announcing bonuses this week. (Image: Getty)

As is customary in January following strong gaming years, most of Macau’s casino concessions have announced significant bonuses for non-executive workers.

Galaxy Entertainment said its one-month discretionary bonus covers about 97% of the company’s staff, with all positions from senior manager and below eligible. Melco Resorts said its one-month bonus would be paid to all “non-management” employees in Macau and Hong Kong, but did not specify what percentage of its workforce would be entitled to the special payments. MGM China said 97% of its staff in China would be paid a bonus equivalent to the employee’s salary for one month.

Wynn Macau confirmed it’s distributing a “special allowance” equal to one month’s gross salary, with the bonus celebrating the company’s 20th anniversary in the Chinese Special Administrative Region. Wynn said 98% of its 11,552-person workforce qualified for the dividend.

On Sunday, SJM Resorts said it too would issue a one-month bonus to non-executive employees. Sands China is the lone concession not to yet announce a bonus, but is expected to in the coming days.

2025 Recovery

2025 was the best year yet in the COVID-19 aftermath for Macau’s gaming industry, which is the world’s largest casino market. The six casino operators generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of almost $30.9 billion, more than double the size of the Las Vegas Strip.

The $30.9 billion haul represented a 9.1% increase on 2024 and was 36% higher than 2023, when Macau casino revenue totaled $22.7 billion. 2025 exceeded expectations, as the casinos successfully redirected their focus from the high rollers, who had largely disappeared with the eradication of VIP junket groups, to the premium mass player and the general public.

Premium mass players still bet hundreds of US dollars per baccarat hand, with some wagering four digits per deal. While the true high rollers who bet thousands and tens of thousands of dollars per hand in private junket rooms are generally no more, the casinos say the need to offer fewer perks and comps to premium players has led to them being more profitable.

Record Visitation

The pivot to a wider market was proven with the disclosure of the 2025 visitor arrivals numbers. Macau’s Public Security Police, which handles border entries, reports that more than 40 million visitors made their way into the enclave last year.

The tally, officially 40.06 million, easily broke Macau’s previous best travel year of 39.41 million visitors set in 2019. The 2025 visitor mark represented a 14.7% surge on 2024, when 34.94 million entries were counted.
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Devin O’Connor

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January 11, 2026
Macau Government Wants Updates on Casino Investments
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Posted on: November 20, 2025, 12:18h.

Last updated on: November 19, 2025, 12:26h.
- Macau will review casino investments in the new year
- The Chinese city’s six casino operators agreed to invest $16 billion in nongaming projects
- The pledge came in 2022 with new gaming concessions
In December 2022, the Macau government agreed to issue new gaming licenses to its six casino operators. In exchange, Sands, Galaxy, Wynn, MGM, Melco, and SJM agreed to invest many billions of dollars into resort improvements and expansions, with the bulk of the capital mandated to go to nongaming initiatives.

Macau Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai delivers the 2026 Policy Address before a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly on Nov. 18, 2025. Sam said the local government will inspect whether the city’s casinos have fulfilled their gaming and nongaming investment obligations, as dictated by their 2022 licenses. (Image: Macau Government Information Bureau)

Macau, at the direction of Beijing, used the relicensing process to field investments that will ideally bring new people to the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR).

The six gaming firms agreed to invest about $19.3 billion, with upwards of $16 billion stipulated for projects off the gaming floor.

Almost three years later, several of the casinos claim they’ve already carried out their investment obligations. Thousands of hotel rooms have been renovated, investments in sports and K-pop have been made, and family-friendly attractions have been developed.

Macau Chief Executive Wants Audits

During his 2026 Policy Address to the Legislative Assembly, Macau Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai said an emphasis in the new year will be on ensuring that the casinos carry out their investment responsibilities.

We will conduct a review of concessionaires’ investment projects and amounts in both gaming and nongaming sectors from 2023 to 2025, their fulfillment of social responsibilities, and compliance with laws and statutory obligations,” Sam said, as reported by Inside Asian Gaming. “We urge concessionaires to fulfill their concession contract commitments, implement gaming and nongaming investments, and expand diversified tourism projects and products.”

Since the 2022 tenders, each casino has been required to submit implementation status reports to the SAR government specifying investments made in the prior year and plans for the 12 months ahead.

“The government does monitor the investment situation.” Tai Kin Ip, Macau’s secretary for economy and finance, said earlier this year.

Macau Outlook

Macau is roaring, as its casinos, the enclave’s economic heartbeat, are experiencing their best post-COVID-19 year to date. October was the city’s best month in terms of casino revenue since October 2019, with gross gaming revenue (GGR) reaching more than $3 billion.

Year to date, Macau GGR is up 8%. The six casinos have won MOP15.28 billion (US$1.9 billion) more gaming money from players through nine months than they did in 2024.

Macau is meanwhile diversifying, with its casinos no longer being the primary focal point. Economic analysts expect GDP growth to be around 2.6% this year. As for 2026, analysts are “cautiously optimistic” about further growth, despite global headwinds like the ongoing threats of trade tariffs with the US.

While growth is growth, the 2.6% projection for this year from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a reduction from the earlier 3.6% forecast. The IMF said global trade worries tampered results.
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Devin O’Connor

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November 19, 2025
Las Vegas Sands Continues Pouring Money Into Texas Politics
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Posted on: October 14, 2025, 10:21h.

Last updated on: October 14, 2025, 10:32h.
- Las Vegas Sands remains invested in Texas politics
- Sands wants to build a casino resort in Dallas
- Sands is heavily backing Texas Senate candidate John Huffman
Las Vegas Sands has contributed millions of dollars to political races in Texas over the past few years. Despite little return on the many campaign contributions, the world’s largest casino operator by market capitalization is showing no signs of folding.

Texas Senate candidate John Huffman posted a photograph of his family looking over the Bellagio Fountains on X. Huffman is being heavily supported by the casino lobby and Las Vegas Sands, though he wrote in July that Las Vegas is not his “style.” (Image: X)

According to campaign finance records disclosed by the Texas Ethics Commission, Texas Sands PAC last month gave state Senate District 9 Republican candidate John Huffman $500K. Huffman, a former city councilor and mayor of Southlake in the Dallas/Fort Worth suburbs, is a self-described “true fiscal conservative” who seeks to cut taxes and reduce regulation.

Sands sees Huffman as a possible state lawmaker who might get on board with the idea of casino gambling as an economic stimulator that could lessen the tax burden on Texans, and keep the many millions of gaming dollars from flowing annually to Oklahoma tribal casinos and commercial casinos in Lake Charles, La. Huffman’s chief opponent for the November 9 special election — Republican Leigh Wambsganss — is on record saying she doesn’t believe gambling is good for society.

The research is conclusive — gambling has a negative impact on families and has a detrimental effect on the community as a whole,” Wambsganss told the Texas Scorecard. “I do not think expanded gambling is right for Texas.”

Huffman says voters — not state lawmakers — should decide whether casinos are right for Texas.

If voters choose expansion, it should be limited, well-regulated, and focused on a small number of high-end destination resorts that create jobs and attract tourism,” Huffman said.

Sands’ largest shareholder is billionaire Dr. Miriam Adelson, who, along with her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, controls the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. In late 2023, the Adelsons bought a 69% position in the Mavs from Mark Cuban for about $3.8 billion.

Casino Lobby

Adelson’s late husband, Sheldon Adelson, the founder and longtime chair and CEO of Sands, had sought entry into Texas for many years. Adelson is carrying on her husband’s ambitions.

Adelson’s purchase of the Mavs is thought to give the businesswoman and philanthropist an upper hand in Austin in convincing lawmakers to consider gaming. Her crusade is supported by Cuban, who believes Texas needs to diversify its leisure travel attractions. Adelson and Cuban have suggested building a new NBA arena accompanied by an integrated resort casino.

Adelson and Sands are the lone financiers of Texas Sands PAC. In August, she gave $9.1 million to the political action committee. Sands gave $4,500.

Adelson is also a major backer of the Texas Defense PAC. That committee gave Huffman almost $600K. The Adelson-based committees collectively account for about 94% of Huffman’s total campaign war chest.

Political Irony

Huffman believes it’s quite ironic that Wambsganss opposes casinos in Texas, considering her family made money off gaming. Those claims stem from her husband previously being an investor in a skill gaming manufacturing company that primarily operated in Virginia, the state in which Wambsganss was born before moving to Texas as a child with her military parents.

Skill games in Virginia have been illegal since July 2021, though legal challenges continue. Skill games are slot-like machines that require players to identify winning paylines.

Huffman’s support of casinos is also a bit ironic. Last summer, he posted his family’s favorite cities across the US after being “blessed to travel to all 50 states.” His review for Las Vegas wasn’t exactly an endorsement.

We didn’t gamble — obviously — but we walked the Strip, marveled at the Bellagio Fountains, and soaked in the sensory overload. Glad the kids saw it, but no one was in a hurry to return. Just not our style,” Huffman summarized.

The Texas politician ranked Las Vegas No. 16 among 21 major cities they visited.
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Devin O’Connor

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October 14, 2025
Las Vegas Sands Among Businesses That Met With China Premier
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Posted on: September 27, 2025, 03:08h.

Last updated on: September 27, 2025, 03:09h.
- Las Vegas Sands CEO Rob Goldstein met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang
- The Chinese leader expressed enthusiasm for strengthening his country’s relationship with the US
- Sands operates five casinos in China’s Macau
Robert Goldstein, the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, who assumed the roles in January 2021 following the death of his longtime boss and mentor, Sheldon Adelson, was among the American business leaders who met last week with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

The Venetian on the Cotai Strip in Macau, owned by Las Vegas Sands, is seen. Sands’ top executive, Robert Goldstein, met recently with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. (Image: Shutterstock)

For decades, Goldstein was Adelson’s right-hand man. Adelson, the founder and longtime chair and CEO of Sands, was responsible for overhauling China’s Macau into the world’s richest gaming hub by developing the ultra-luxurious Cotai Strip.

During his trip to the US to attend a meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York, Li, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s right-hand man, who is the second most important leader in China, met with several executives from major American companies that do business with China, with LVS among them.

Las Vegas-based Sands no longer has any resorts in Las Vegas or anywhere else in the US. The firm instead relies primarily on Macau, along with its Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

Chinese Meeting

Goldstein was one of at least eight business leaders who met privately with Li in New York on Thursday after the UN gathering. Goldstein’s attendance was first reported by Bloomberg.

Looking forward, China and the US need to find the right way to get along in this new era,” Li said at the event hosted by the National Committee on US-China Relations, according to a readout posted by the Chinese government. “Economic and trade relations are an important part of our bilateral relationship.”

Li said that the world’s two largest economies “can and should become friends and partners.”

Those are welcome comments for Sands, which owns and operates five integrated resort casino properties in China — The Venetian, Sands, The Londoner, The Plaza & Four Seasons Hotel, and The Parisian. In 2024, Sands’ Macau operations generated net revenue of more than $7.1 billion for the company.

President Donald Trump’s tariff war and ongoing threats to the Chinese economy have caused some concern among the three US-based gaming operators invested in Macau that they could be targeted for retaliation. Along with Sands, MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts own casinos in Macau.

Li’s comments, however, suggest the Chinese Communist Party is seeking to strengthen its US relationship.

Regardless of changes in the external environment, China will make every possible effort to ensure greater certainty for the growth of foreign companies,” Li added.

The premier said the Pacific Ocean is “wide enough” to accommodate a strong bilateral relationship between the US and China, but also additional countries. Li urged both sides and parties to “strengthen cooperation.”

Li Power

Along with Goldstein and Sands, Li reportedly invited leaders from BlackRock, Citadel Securities, Visa, FedEx, Estee Lauder, and Amphenol.

As premier, a position he’s held since March 2023, Li has been considered pro-business. The premier is the head of the People’s Republic of China government and leads the State Council.

Goldstein plans to step down next year. He’s set to be replaced by Sands President and COO Patrick Dumont, the son-in-law of Sands’ largest shareholder, Dr. Miriam Adelson, the widow of the late Sheldon Adelson.
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Devin O’Connor

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September 27, 2025
NCC to become training center for proposed casino resort | Long Island Business News

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Las Vegas Sands and Nassau Community College have agreed to make the college the primary employee training center for the proposed Sands casino/resort at the Nassau Coliseum property.

The public-private initiative would be contingent on Sands being successful in securing the opportunity to develop its proposed multi-billion-dollar entertainment complex at the Uniondale site.

Nassau Community College

The college, part of the State University of New York system, is known for its associate degrees, certificates and workforce development programs in diverse fields of study, including hospitality, culinary arts, business, humanities, theater and technology, according to a joint statement from the school and developer. The collaboration, which will include an internship and experiential learning component for NCC students, would be aimed at supporting sustainable job growth and economic development on Long Island and throughout the New York metropolitan region.

“The creation of a new industry with thousands of jobs in multiple sectors is a tremendous opportunity not only for our students but for the diverse populations we serve as a community college,” Maria Conzatti, acting president of Nassau Community College, said in the statement. “Enhancing our curriculum with training programs, mentorship, and internship opportunities in conjunction with an industry leader like Sands, provides an opportunity for adult students, career changers, and all community members to be placed on successful career paths.”

Sands says its hospitality education initiatives span contributions to higher education institutions, scholarship programs, on-property and industry-supported training opportunities for students and hospitality professionals, and mentorship support from company leaders and experts.

“Our company has a strong track record of partnering with a variety of educational organizations to put people on pathways to success in the hospitality industry and help them build the skills they need to increase their earning power,” Robert G. Goldstein, Sands’ chairman and CEO, said in the statement. “We are making the same commitment to the Long Island community and have an excellent partner with an aligned vision to do so in working with Nassau Community College. We look forward to investing in people with any skill set or background who have a desire to be part of this exciting new industry planned for Long Island.”

The collaboration between Sands and Nassau Community College would lead to programs in hotel and casino management, security and surveillance, meetings and banquets, entertainment, and food and beverage, according to the statement.

Genette Alvarez-Ortiz, acting vice president of academic affairs at NCC, said that the college is currently renovating a free-standing building on its north campus to serve as the home to its Culinary Arts program, which offers the Associate in Occupational Studies degree. The building is expected to be completed in 2024.

“The college’s programs are designed to educate individuals for a wide-range of jobs in current and emerging fields,” Alvarez-Ortiz said in the statement. “We offer excellent programs for particular skill areas such as food service and nutrition, sales and marketing, cybersecurity and information technology, world languages and cultures, and theater and music.”

When Sands developed its previously owned resort in Bethlehem, Penn., the company said it had established a similar collaborative relationship with Northampton Community College that included co-development of curriculum to train local workers for resort jobs, on-site student learning opportunities at the resort, coursework taught by Sands representatives, internships and other events and programs.

In Las Vegas, the company co-founded and continues to support the Sands Center for Professional Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Harrah College of Hospitality, according to the statement. The company says it recently established a $1 million scholarship program to help advance hospitality careers in Singapore in conjunction with its Marina Bay Sands resort, which also regularly hosts, trains and employs hospitality students on site through a variety of developmental programs.

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David Winzelberg

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January 30, 2023