Cambodia Casinos
There is a captivating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the border from next door Thailand, in which casino wagering is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime destination, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained 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 requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are apparently required to pass, there are methods around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau casino, contains 150 slot machines and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five 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 features three hundred slots and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the common table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that highlights a number of comforts accompanying the gambling hall, which contains 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and 88 gaming tables.