Top Secret Casino
There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where casino betting is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are established in a generally small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a prime area, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; although, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 17:00, and though visas are for all intents and purposes needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of most borders.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga casino never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the common tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel building that highlights many conveniences in addition to the gambling hall, which houses 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight tables.