Cambodia Casinos

Monday, 9. May 2016

[ English ]

There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where casino betting is illegal. Eight gambling dens are situated in a generally tiny space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent area, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is real of many borders.

The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau casino, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and sixty table games. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive vacation and hotel compound that contains a number of luxuries accompanying the gambling hall, which offers ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 tables.