Cambodia Casinos
There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that lie just across the border from next door Thailand, where casino gaming is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are based in a generally tiny area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and despite the fact visas are apparently necessary to pass, there are methods around this, as is accurate of many borders.
The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked bateau gambling hall, features 150 slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of 150 one armed bandits and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred one armed bandits and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that highlights a number of conveniences accompanying the casino, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight tables.