Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the border from next door Thailand, in which casino betting is illegal. Eight casinos are situated in a generally small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect destination, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; still, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 1700, and although visas are supposedly required to cross, there are means around this, as is real of many borders.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty slots and sixty tables. The Naga gambling den is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the familiar tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel building that contains many conveniences on top of the gambling hall, which houses ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machines and eighty eight tables.