Archive for March 26th, 2020

Cambodia Casinos

[ English ]

There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling den wagering is not legal. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively tiny space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime destination, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are supposedly required to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of most border crossings.

The initial Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling den, highlights 150 one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel building that features numerous comforts accompanying the casino, which has ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machine games and eighty eight tables.