Cambodia Casinos
There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just across the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall gaming is banned. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally small space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect spot, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing capital gained from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 1700, and even though visas are apparently necessary to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is correct of most borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling den, highlights one hundred and fifty slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 slot machines and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machine games 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 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the common table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international resort and hotel building that features numerous amenities on top of the casino, which houses 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and 88 tables.