Cambodia Gambling Dens
There is an interesting story to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the border from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is against the law. Eight gambling halls are situated in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent spot, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few limitations constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, funding sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 17:00, and though visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are methods around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling den, highlights 150 slot machine games and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall 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 a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of 150 slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around vacation and hotel building that contains many luxuries accompanying the casino, which offers 10,000 square feet of 130 slots and 88 table games.