Top Secret Casino
There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling den gambling is against the law. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively small space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime location, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing capital gained from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, investment sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are supposedly necessary to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship casino, features one hundred and fifty slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slots and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational resort and hotel building that highlights a number of amenities in addition to the gambling hall, which houses ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight gaming tables.