Power rests in press for Sands boss

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has found a new interest -- newspaper publisher.

The chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp. has launched Yisrael Hayom, or Israel Today, a free daily newspaper that on its first day was already one of the largest-circulation papers in the country, according to The Forward, an American-based Jewish publication.

However, the newspaper is drawing questions from other Israeli newspaper owners. They worry that Adelson is too close to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Adelson has shaken things up. The doyens of the three dailies are alarmed by this 'intrusion' as they see it," Amotz Asa-El, a columnist for the Jerusalem Post told the Forward.

The first edition of Yisrael Hayom appeared July 29 and was delivered to 100,000 mailboxes in affluent parts of the country. Reports put Adelson's planned investment in the newspaper at $180 million over three years.

It's too soon to tell if Adelson will be more successful than the last casino owner who tried his hand at journalism. Stratosphere developer Bob Stupak's Las Vegas Bullet didn't last more than a year.

The presence of Strip megaresorts proves what goes into slot machines stays in slot machines. But the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority may ask a judge to rule on what can go on a slot machine.

Authority general counsel Luke Puschnig may take legal action against Wager Inc., an Arizona game maker that wants to outfit slot machines with a "What happens here, stays here," theme.

The authority already has dibs on the slogan and has spent more than $131 million on campaigns to etch it in the minds of millions of potential Las Vegas visitors. That didn't stop Wager from trying to trademark its use on slot machines, Puschnig said.

The authority offered to license the slogan to Wager but was turned down.

A Nevada Supreme Court appeal by two dealers challenging Wynn Las Vegas' tip-pooling policy is quietly winding through the system.

The court said in July it would accept briefs from two former state assemblymen, David Mello and Jack Lund Schofield, and the dealer's new union in support of the dealer's arguments.

The ex-assemblymen said a 1971 state law revision they authored has been misinterpreted by the courts when used in tip-pooling cases. The revision was intended to prevent an employer from taking tips from one group of employees and giving the money to another, they said.

The dealers filed their appeal in May after a judge dismissed the class action lawsuit Dec. 6, saying the dealers are not contract employees and state law allows casinos to change their tip-pooling policies.

The Inside Gaming column is compiled by Review-Journal gaming and tourism writers Howard Stutz, Benjamin Spillman and Arnold M. Knightly. Send your tips about the gaming and tourism industry to insidegaming@reviewjournal.com.