Sands is the first casino to be opened by a foreigner, after a decision by the Macaugovernment two years ago to end Mr Ho's 42-year-old gambling monopoly and to auction three new gaming licences.
Yet despite the squalor, Kirk Kerkorian's MGM Mirage, Steve Wynn, Sheldon Adelson and a partnership of Park Place and Mandalay Resort Group are among the nine finalists angling to win one of three gambling licenses being granted by the Macaugovernment.