11.08
Cambodia Casinos
There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the border from next door Thailand, in which casino betting is banned. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a relatively tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime location, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; although, financial sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and despite the fact visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked bateau gambling hall, features 150 slot machine games and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long opened. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and 66 of the normal tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational vacation and hotel complex that contains a number of luxuries on top of the casino, which provides 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.