07.04
Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the border from next door Thailand, where gambling hall betting is not allowed. Eight casinos are situated in a generally small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect area, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, funding sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are apparently required to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling hall, features 150 slot machine games and 60 gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slots and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel compound that features numerous luxuries on top of the gambling den, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slots and eighty eight tables.