Cambodia Gambling Halls
There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the border from next door Thailand, where gambling den gambling is banned. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular betting centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; still, financial sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 17:00, and even though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling hall, contains 150 one armed bandits and 60 tables. The Naga river boat is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel complex that features a number of conveniences in addition to the casino, which contains 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machine games and 88 table games.