Sheldon Adelson’s Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem has filed a petition to conduct casino-style online gambling in Pennsylvania — but they’re really just inquiring for a friend. Specifically, a cash-flush friend from Alabama in the process of buying the Bethlehem casino for $1.3 billion.

As part of its agreement to sell the Sands Bethlehem casino to Wind Creek Hospitality, Las Vegas Sands Corp. is obligated to pursue “in good faith” a certificate to conduct online gambling in Pennsylvania, according to the footnotes of Sands’ petition filed with the state.

“Sands submits this petition in the interest of Wind Creek so that, if approved, and after Wind Creek acquires the purchased interests, Sands can conduct interactive gaming in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” reads the petition’s footnotes, reviewed by The Morning Call.

The property’s sale to Wind Creek, slated to close late this year or in early 2019, is the only reason Las Vegas Sands submitted an online gambling petition. The company’s Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson has been a firm opponent of online gambling all along, and it would be hard to imagine the 84-year-old casino magnate signing off on such a document if the property wasn’t being sold.

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