The past few years haven’t been kind to American casinos, but Las Vegas Sands’ honcho Sheldon Adelson thinks that his Vegas properties will be back to 80% of normal within a year, and he’s also let it slip that he’s looking at entering the Japanese market. Meanwhile, John Paulson, whose namesake hedge fund famously made $15B betting against the subprime mortgage market, has acquired a 9.9% stake in Harrah’s Entertainment. Paulson already controls 40 million shares of MGM Mirage and 4 million shares of Boyd Gaming, so clearly not everyone believes America’s casino companies have rolled snake eyes just yet.