17 Dec 08

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There is an captivating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are situated in a relatively small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in a excellent spot, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal capital acquired from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are few controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and despite the fact visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of most border crossings.

The first Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat gambling hall, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a inn, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel compound that contains many amenities aside from the gambling den, which has 10,000 square feet of 130 slots and eighty eight table games.