Cambodia Gambling Halls
December 5th, 2009 at 1:21
There is an appealing history to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall betting is banned. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a relatively tiny space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect location, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 1700, and though visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls 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 moored barge gambling hall, contains 150 one armed bandits and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machines and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machine games and 70 gaming 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 chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive vacation and hotel complex that contains numerous amenities aside from the gambling hall, which provides ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight tables.