There’s an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling establishments that lie just across the border from nearby Thailand, where casino wagering is illegal. Eight bettings houses are located in the relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This area of Cambodia gambling dens is inside a prime spot, a 3 to 4 drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia bettings houses do a booming business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only extremely few Westerners. The extraordinary earnings obtained from the bettings houses ranges from seven dollars.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are couple of constraints or registration prerequisites for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; on the other hand, investment sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to five p.m., and even though visas are allegedly necessary to cross, you can find ways to circumspect this, as is true of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling establishments opened in Phnom Penh in ‘94, except were pressured to close in 98, leaving only one betting house in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a fixed boat gambling establishment, functions 150 slot machine games and sixty table games. The Naga casino is open twenty four hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of black jack, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Paigow poker and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in ‘99 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort functions three hundred slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty-six slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most well-known casino game), Fan Tan, and Pai gow. Additionally, there will be the Gambling den Tropicana, with a hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty-six of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Gambling establishment Stud Poker. Another one of the eight bettings houses in Poipet, also inside a hotel, is the Princess Betting house with one hundred and sixty-six slot machines and ninety-seven games. The Star Vegas Gambling establishment is part of an international resort and hotel complex that functions numerous amenities additionally to the casino, which has 10,000 sqft of a hundred thirty slot machines and eighty-eight table games.
Across the Cambodian border at Asmech/Surin is one casino, the Casino O Samet, with 100 slot machines and 50 tables of baccarat chemin de fer. Also, the Koh Kong Betting house, in the province of Trat, is open everyday from 9:00 a.m. to ten p.m., with one hundred slot machines and 4 table games. A smaller betting house, Le Macau Gambling den and Hotel, opened recently at Bavet on the Vietnamese border.