02.20
Cambodia Gambling Dens
There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den betting is banned. Eight casinos are established in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime area, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are allegedly required to cross, there are methods around this, as is accurate of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling den, features 150 one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga river boat never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 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, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machines and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 one armed bandits and seventy 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 dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the common gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel building that features many luxuries in addition to the gambling den, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 gaming tables.