10.19
Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling hall gaming is not permitted. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect area, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and even though visas are supposedly required to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling den, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around resort and hotel compound that features a number of conveniences accompanying the casino, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 gaming tables.