Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den gaming is illegal. Eight gambling dens are established in a generally small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent spot, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and even though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of most borders.
The original Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling den, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the common gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that highlights numerous amenities in addition to the gambling hall, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight tables.