Cambodia Casinos
There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling den betting is prohibited. Eight gambling dens are based in a generally small space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime location, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, investment sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge casino, highlights one hundred and fifty slots and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant 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 a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel complex that contains numerous comforts accompanying the gambling hall, which contains 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 tables.