Cambodia Casinos
There is an appealing history to the Cambodia casinos that lie just across the border from nearby Thailand, in which casino gambling is banned. Eight gambling halls are established in a generally small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; however, funding sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is accurate of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling den, highlights 150 slot machines and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and sixty six of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that highlights numerous luxuries accompanying the gambling hall, which houses 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 table games.