05.02
Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is an interesting history to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling hall wagering is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are based in a generally tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime location, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; still, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 1700, and although visas are allegedly needed to cross, there are means around this, as is real of most borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling den, contains 150 slot machines and sixty gaming tables. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are 150 slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machines and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the common tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around resort and hotel building that highlights many luxuries aside from the gambling den, which houses 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 table games.