There is an interesting background to the Cambodia bettings houses that lie just across the border from bordering Thailand, where betting house wagering is illegal. Eight casinos are positioned in the relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This area of Cambodia casinos is in the perfect location, a three to four drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a flourishing business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only extremely few Westerners. The incredible earnings gained from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve point five million, and there are few limitations or registration requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; on the other hand, investment sources are vague. The borders are officially open from nine a.m. to five p.m., and despite the fact that visas are supposedly necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of the majority of border crossings.
The very first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in ninety-four, except were compelled to close in 1998, leaving only one gambling establishment in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a fixed boat casino, attributes one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga gambling establishment is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of black jack, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling establishment in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. You’ll find 150 slot machines and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty-eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Betting house and Resort attributes 300 slot machine games and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Betting house, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty-six slots and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (the most well-known casino game), Fan Tan, and Pai-gow. In addition, there may be the Casino Tropicana, with a hundred and thirty five slot machine games and sixty-six of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Gambling den Stud Poker. One more one of the eight gambling establishments in Poipet, also inside a hotel, could be the Princess Gambling den with one hundred and sixty-six slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Gambling den is part of an international resort and hotel complex that features several amenities moreover to the betting house, which has ten thousand sqft of a hundred thirty slot machines and eighty eight table games.
Across the Cambodian border at Asmech/Surin is one gambling den, the Casino O Samet, with a hundred slot machines and fifty tables of baccarat. Moreover, the Koh Kong Gambling den, in the province of Trat, is open every day from nine a.m. to ten p.m., with 100 slot machines and four table games. A smaller betting house, Le Macau Betting house and Hotel, opened recently at Bavet on the Vietnamese border.