There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the border from neighboring Thailand, where casino gambling is illegal. 8 gambling dens are situated in the fairly small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia bettings houses is inside a prime place, a three to four drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling establishments do a successful business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only incredibly few Westerners. The extraordinary income gained from the bettings houses ranges from $7.five million to over twelve and a half million, and there are couple of restrictions or registration requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; nonetheless, investment sources are vague. The borders are officially open from nine a.m. to five p.m., and although visas are apparently required to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of the majority of border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling establishments opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were pushed to close in 1998, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat gambling den, features a hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga casino is open twenty four hours with forty-two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Gambling den and Resort characteristics three hundred slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Gambling establishment, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty-six slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most well-known casino game), Fan Tan, and Double-hand. Furthermore, there is the Betting house Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Gambling den Stud Poker. One more one of the eight casinos in Poipet, also inside a hotel, may be the Princess Gambling establishment with 166 slots and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel complex that features many amenities moreover to the casino, which has ten thousand square feet of a hundred thirty slots and eighty eight table games.
Across the Cambodian border at Asmech/Surin is one casino, the Gambling establishment O Samet, with 100 slot machine games and fifty tables of baccarat banque. Furthermore, the Koh Kong Betting house, in the province of Trat, is open every day from nine a.m. to ten p.m., with 100 slot machine games and 4 table games. A smaller betting house, Le Macau Betting house and Hotel, opened recently at Bavet on the Vietnamese border.
