Cambodia Gambling Dens
There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, in which gambling den betting is illegal. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively small space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent location, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of limitations requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, financial sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and although visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of most borders.
The original Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship casino, contains 150 slot machines and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slots and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around resort and hotel compound that features many conveniences in addition to the gambling den, which houses ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machines and eighty eight table games.