02.03
Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is illegal. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a generally small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime location, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; although, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are apparently required to pass, there are methods around this, as is accurate of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat casino, highlights one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 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 gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are 150 one armed bandits and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slots and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the normal tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational resort and hotel compound that contains numerous conveniences on top of the gambling hall, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 gaming tables.