07.02
Cambodia Casinos
There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling den gambling is illegal. Eight casinos are established in a generally small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent location, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; however, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are methods around this, as is real of many borders.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling hall, features 150 slot machines and 60 gaming tables. 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 one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machine games and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the familiar tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around resort and hotel building that features numerous conveniences in addition to the gambling den, which offers ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.