It might come as a surprise to you to learn that Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson recently announced that he does not support online casino gambling. Adelson, the richest casino executive in the world, heads the Sands. The Sands is the largest publicly traded company in the casino industry. As he is a very prominent figure when it comes to gambling, people are sure to pay attention to this statement.

Adelson has been a Republican Party supporter for a number of years now, so perhaps his stance is not altogether too surprising. After all, he supports Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, who is very much against online casinos for USA players. Kyl was a major factor in passing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) back in 2006.

There are a couple reasons why some people might find it surprising that Adelson doesn’t support online gambling, though. For one, the New York Post reported that he was in support of online poker at the federal level just earlier this year. Secondly, many other casino executives are very much in support of online gambling because they think there is a lot of money to be made.

Adelson stated that one of his biggest concerns is underage gambling. He doesn’t think that technology will be good enough to prevent it.

The Las Vegas Sands owns property in all parts of the world including Macau, Singapore, and of course the United States. They own plenty of property in Las Vegas, including the Venetian Resort and Casino.

It is currently unclear whether or not Adelson and the Las Vegas Sands will do anything with this viewpoint. Everyone in favor of online poker rooms in the United States should be crossing their fingers and hoping that this figurehead chooses to remain quiet, however.