Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall betting is illegal. Eight gambling dens are situated in a generally tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 17:00, and although visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored boat gambling hall, features 150 slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga casino is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and 66 of the normal table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel complex that contains many conveniences on top of the gambling den, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight tables.