04.16
Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is an interesting story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling hall wagering is not legal. Eight gambling dens are situated in a relatively tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent location, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing capital acquired from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few limitations requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are apparently necessary to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored boat gambling den, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 60 gaming tables. The Naga river boat is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of 150 slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machine games and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel compound that features many conveniences on top of the casino, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight table games.