Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall betting is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively small space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect spot, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; still, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and even though visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is accurate of most borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machine games and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the common gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel complex that features many comforts accompanying the casino, which houses 10,000 square feet of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight table games.