Cambodia Gambling Dens
There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is not allowed. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime spot, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing income accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and despite the fact visas are allegedly needed to pass, there are means around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau casino, features one hundred and fifty slots and sixty table games. The Naga gambling hall is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the normal tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel building that highlights many conveniences on top of the gambling hall, which has ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 tables.