Cambodia Gambling Dens
There is an interesting story to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling den wagering is not allowed. Eight gambling halls are situated in a relatively tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect spot, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing capital acquired from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; although, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are apparently necessary to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty slots and sixty tables. The Naga casino is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 one armed bandits and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the common gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel complex that highlights a number of luxuries aside from the casino, which has ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machine games and 88 table games.