02.19
Cambodia Gambling Dens
There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is illegal. Eight gambling halls are based in a generally tiny space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime spot, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained 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 assumed to be largely Thai; however, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are allegedly needed to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is real of many borders.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered 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 boat gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty slot machine games and sixty table games. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. 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 newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and sixty six of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that features many comforts aside from the casino, which provides 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 table games.