Cambodia Gambling Dens
There is a captivating background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall wagering is illegal. Eight casinos are based in a generally small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent area, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; still, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 17:00, and even though visas are allegedly necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of most borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge casino, highlights 150 one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are 150 slot machine games and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred one armed bandits and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel compound that contains many comforts aside from the gambling hall, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight tables.