Cambodia Gambling Dens
There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the border from next door Thailand, where casino gaming is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime area, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; although, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are apparently necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau gambling den, contains 150 one armed bandits and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are 150 slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational resort and hotel complex that features a number of luxuries on top of the casino, which provides ten thousand square feet of 130 slots and eighty eight gaming tables.