Cambodia Casinos
There is a captivating history to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where casino betting is illegal. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent spot, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a few restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are supposedly needed to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is real of many borders.
The first Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling den, contains 150 slot machines and 60 gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most popular 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 normal tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel compound that highlights a number of conveniences in addition to the gambling hall, which provides ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 tables.