Cambodia Gambling Dens
There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the border from next door Thailand, in which gambling den gaming is banned. Eight gambling halls are based in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in a prime destination, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are supposedly required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is real of many borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship casino, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel compound that highlights a number of comforts aside from the gambling hall, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight gaming tables.