As befits the head of one of the world’s biggest casino operators, Sheldon Adelson likes a punt. Last year, the chief executive of Las Vegas Sands placed a multibillion-dollar treble on the future of Asian gaming. With two legs completed, the bet is looking good. But Mr Adelson may yet stumble before the finish line.

Las Vegas Sands spotted the potential of Asian gambling nearly a decade ago, when the former Portuguese territory of Macao, now a special administrative region of China, opened its centuries-old gaming market to foreign companies.

By 2008, Las Vegas Sands had two casino resorts operating in the territory – the only location in China where gaming is legal. But the company had loaded up on debt to pay for the building spree. When revenues collapsed during the global financial crisis it was briefly in danger of going bankrupt.

In the first leg of his treble, Mr Adelson poured in $1bn of his own cash to stabilise the company’s finances. The gamble paid off. Talk of bankruptcy receded, and the company bought time for a $2.1bn share sale in the US and the $2.5bn Hong Kong listing of Sands China, which runs the Macao casinos. The second leg was Mr Adelson’s decision to press on with the $5.5bn Marina Bay Sands casino resort in Singapore, one of two casino projects approved by the island state in 2005. It was a brave call. Many thought Singapore too small to support two casinos, arguing that if they succeeded it would only be by diverting Chinese customers from Macao, effectively cannibalising the company’s revenues there. To cap it all, the complex was delayed by engineering problems and came in 50 per cent over the original $3.6bn budget.

Last week, that gamble paid off too. In its third-quarter results announcement, which included the first full quarter of operations at Marina Bay Sands, LVS said the Singapore property had generated the highest quarterly adjusted earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation of any property in the company’s history. It also had the highest margins, on the same basis. LVS shares surged 10 per cent to $45.25 after the announcement, up from a low of $1.38 in March last year. Not surprisingly, Mr Adelson said he was “incredibly pleased” by the outcome.

More importantly, the result looks likely to be sustainable. First, there is no discernible cannibalisation of Macao income. Total gaming revenues have continued to soar in the Chinese territory, hitting 18.87bn patacas ($2.36bn) in October, up 50 per cent on the equivalent month a year earlier. Revenues for the year to date are up 59 per cent to 152.1bn patacas, according to Macao’s gaming bureau. Second, there appears to be plenty of business for both casinos. Resorts World Sentosa, the second Singapore resort, has yet to report third-quarter figures. But it opened earlier than Marina Bay Sands and completed its first full quarter in June, with similar results. Genting Singapore, the Malaysian-owned operating company, said its second-quarter net profit of S$396.5m ($308m) was “attributed mainly” to the Sentosa resort.

It is the third leg of the bet, however, that could lead to trouble. Having stabilised the company, Mr Adelson has restarted work on a $4.1bn casino resort project close to its existing Venetian resort in the Cotai Strip area of Macao. The latest project includes Shangri-La, Traders and Sheraton hotels with more than 6,000 rooms, as well as a third casino. It is expected to open in two phases by the end of next year, with a third phase, including another hotel, to be added later.

The risk is twofold. First, even the gaming starved inhabitants of mainland China may not have an inexhaustible appetite for losing their money in Macao’s casinos. LVS is not the only operator after their cash – others have ambitious building plans too. Even if demand holds up, Beijing has moved in the past to limit mainland residents’ access to the special administrative region, and may do so again, for unpredictable reasons.

Secondly, LVS is having trouble getting the buildings off the ground – literally – because of restrictions on the use of foreign workers. A labour shortage has already prompted a three-month delay in the projected completion date of the first phase. More delays are possible, with potentially serious consequences for LVS’s long-term growth.

Investors don’t seem to care, though. LVS closed at $47.23 on Monday, the highest since August 2008. Sands China closed at HK$17.10, up 95 per cent over 12 months. In part, this reflects the success in Singapore and the potential rewards from Cotai: analysts are forecasting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of up to $800m a year from the latest project. With Mr Adelson’s record, though, it might just be that old gambler’s mantra: when you’re on a roll, just keep betting.