CasinoMan is 3rd Richest in the World

Can you name the top 3 richest men in the world? Warren Buffett has just replaced Uber Geek Bill Gates at the top slot, so there´s the first 2 places sewn up. But who is standing on the slightly lower plinth proudly wearing his bronze medal, or should we say medallion?

Well, it´s less well known Sheldon Adelson, 74, who is worth a cool $28 billion, according to those nice people over at Forbes. He made his first killing by setting up and then selling a computer trade show in Vegas. Now he is coining it in from those nice folks over in Asia who are piling into his Macanese casinos in the booming gambling mecca of Macau. Adelsons´s Las Vegas Sands Corporation is the biggest single investor in China, end of story.

Adelson bought the old Sands, made famous by Ol´Blue Eyes Sinatra, for a tidy $128 million and then razed to to the ground and built the $1.5 billion, 4,000-room Venetian Gaming Complex. 2 months ago it became the world's largest hotel when he opened the doors to the $1.9 billion, 3,000-suite Palazzo hotel, (you can walk there from the Venetian without ever leaving Adelson World). In Macao, Adelson has 2 resorts, including another Venetian with a casino 3 times as big as the biggest in Las Vegas, and where the bells around the Sic Bo chirp away happily 24 hours a day while Chinese punters try their luck at the tables.

He is not stopping there. Adelson is shelling out a further $9 billion more to construct 13 more casino hotels in Macao, and around $4 billion on one in Singapore. Phew. Watch out India, Japan, Korea, and Thailand.

Macao's gambling revenues overtook the Las Vegas Strip's in 2006, increased 46.6 percent last year to $10.4 billion. February revenues in Macau were up 67% over the same month the previous year and better still for Adelson, Las Vegas doesn´t catch a cold when the US economy gets a virus.

Adelson is particularly adept at attracting "Whales", Las Vegas and Macau speak for individuals who can win or lose $3 million in one session. There are only a few thousand players of this magnitude in the world, but they are increasing in numbers fast in China.

Adelson says that 60 percent of the revenues from the Venetian in Macau comes from around 300 individuals. Bear in mind that around 60,000 are having a punt at any one time. 20 percent of the punters provide 80 percent of the revenues, (back to the good old 80/20 rule).

Buffett and Gates may still be at the number one and two slot for now, but don´t hold your breath. The casino king is catching up fast and Macua ain´t big enough for the 3 of them.