Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is an interesting story to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where casino betting is against the law. Eight gambling dens are situated in a relatively tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent destination, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; although, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 1700, and despite the fact visas are apparently required to cross, there are means around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored barge casino, highlights 150 slot machine games and 60 table games. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel compound that highlights many comforts accompanying the gambling den, which houses ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machines and eighty eight table games.