heather
heather
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July 11th, 2012 at 4:53:40 AM permalink
This is an interesting subject that came up in another thread. The OP in that thread said that he'd like a separate thread on gambling in Poi Pet in general, so I thought that I'd start one.

Begging the question of where Macau might be located, Poi Pet (also romanized "Poipet") has been described as "the gambling capital of Southeast asia", and is a popular destination for Thais who cannot legally gamble in their home country. A travel guide here provides a map to five casinos and warns of common tourist scams in the area. Six casinos are listed on this page, along with phone numbers and some general information on numbers of games available at different houses (which may not be current). There is skeletal information on seven casinos here. The best site I've found is mostly in Thai, but has pages on nine Poi Pet casinos, plus videos of gaming floors and photos of hotel rooms.

Few of the casinos have websites, and even fewer have useful information in English on those websites. Phnom Penh casinos seem more likely to have websites than those in Poi Pet. Crown Casino has a site without much useful information, but does provide phone numbers for English-speaking hosts available 24 hours a day. Genting has a website, but provides no casino information on its site. Grand Exclusive (which seems to operate Poipet Resort and Grand Diamond City) has a website with very minimal information, although it does list games available (Baccarat, Caribbean Stud Poker, Craps, Diamond War, Fan Tan, Pai Gow Poker, Pok Dang, Pontoon, Roulette, Sic Bo, Sip Theam, and Three Card Poker). There was also a cryptic reference to tournaments, which I'd like to hear more about, especially if they're anything like those private Baccarat tournaments in Macau. A few of the casinos have Facebook pages, but I don't do the Facebook thing so I didn't check them out too closely.

According to this page, Holiday Palace has golf at US$20 per round, and Star Vegas has rooms for US$15 per night, plus sex for US$13 "upwards" (I wonder if you can maybe get it comped, for that "old Vegas" experience).

I can't find it now, but there was a message board that I came across last week where people were discussing Sic bo games in Poipet, and helpfully had provided table limits. It sounded like charity fundraiser limits to me (like less than US$100 table max), which dramatically reduced my interest in visiting Cambodia. But at least one one of the casino sites that I linked mentioned high limit rooms, so maybe things get more interesting upstairs (like in Macau).

I would be interested in learning more about the Sic bo and Fan tan games. Sic bo is just starting to show up in the US (possibly because James Bond played it in a movie), but hasn't really caught on at all, and if there's a casino in the US operating a Fan tan game, I haven't found it yet. I'd also be interested in hearing about Sip Theam and Dragon Tiger, neither of which I've played. I'm a huge fan of Baccarat and wondered whether any big table games existed (perhaps in those high limit rooms like in Macau). The Crown Casino page I linked showed a mini-Bacc table; are those more common than midi? Is midi the game of choice? The mini-Bacc table in the photo had bent cards, suggesting that the players are allowed to touch them; that doesn't happen at anything smaller than a midi table in the US. Are there other differences?

A good piece of travel advice for women visiting Cambodia is not to mess around with married Khmer men. The traditional Cambodian response of the jilted lover is to pay men to throw acid in the other woman's face. Happens a few times every year.
P90
P90
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July 11th, 2012 at 6:46:31 AM permalink
Quote: heather

According to this page, Holiday Palace has golf at US$20 per round, and Star Vegas has rooms for US$15 per night, plus sex for US$13 "upwards" (I wonder if you can maybe get it comped, for that "old Vegas" experience).


AFAIK not. These are mostly self-employed or in independent employ. It's really "upwards", 50,000 riels or 400 baht (presumably one of these was meant by $13) is either the "friend rate" or minimum service, and you are expected to... OK, let's just say it's not all there is to it. A bit over $30 is the real figure you can expect to spend.


Quote: heather

I'm a huge fan of Baccarat and wondered whether any big table games existed (perhaps in those high limit rooms like in Macau).


Haven't seen these, but I haven't been everywhere. They prefer a crappy hybrid between midi and full.

Anyway, if you're in Macau, you may want to consider BJ if possible, i.e. if you can find favorable enough rules and games to make yourself look like a whale without a whole lot of -EV.
Well, really what you want to play there is poker, but you do need strong skill (how can we measure it... well, if you can't score 450+ in Harrington's workbook, you need more) to reasonably try fleecing these tables, since they are tighter than what you see in Vegas and don't splash as much light money around, and your living expenses aren't comped as easily.
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heather
heather
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July 11th, 2012 at 3:58:14 PM permalink
I dug around a little more. They offer a game called Tai Sai in Poi Pet, which looks to be Sic bo with even more betting options:



StarWorld/Genting Casinos (Cambodia) - Tai Sai

SkyCity Casino (NZ) - Tai Sai

The Rule of Tai-Sai (traditional three dice Chinese game)

Since I really like Sic bo, and I hadn't heard of this game before (or just didn't know what it was when I saw or heard it mentioned), Tai Sai seemed really interesting to me. Payouts are the same as normal Sic bo payouts, as far as I can tell (including bets on any single number paying out either 3:1 or 12:1 depending on where you're playing, just like in Sic bo). It just has fifty more bets you can place off to one side of the layout, with some paying out 30:1 and the rest paying 50:1. Winning spots on the layout light up like on a Sic bo layout.

Quote: P90

They prefer a crappy hybrid between midi and full.



That's what I was guessing based on the pictures (mini-Bacc tables with bent cards on the layout). I feel like East Asian Baccarat is missing like half of my favorite things about Baccarat. Sitting on stools means nobody pulls your chair out for you. :(

I saw somebody on an AP message board say that Poi Pet Blackjack table limits were about US$50, which seems like about what I've seen people say about Poi Pet table limits in general. So I'm guessing that getting your flight comped isn't in the cards. Still no idea what goes on in the high limit rooms, though.
NokTang
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July 20th, 2012 at 9:24:59 PM permalink
Quote: heather


I saw somebody on an AP message board say that Poi Pet Blackjack table limits were about US$50, which seems like about what I've seen people say about Poi Pet table limits in general. So I'm guessing that getting your flight comped isn't in the cards. Still no idea what goes on in the high limit rooms, though.



Hi. Just saw your posts. I've been to Poi Pet many times, not really to "gamble" but coming and going from Bangkok to Phnom Penh etc..

I'm sure the BlackJack limit is higher than $50.usd.. I don't know the rules. These aren't small outfits, it's the real deal. As for comps, again, I don't know much about it but flights? only if you were to fly in there on a charter etc.. I've never had good food in Poi Pet. I usually or shall I say, have always stayed at the Tropicana. It's decent, only decent. I've never found craps in Poi Pet despite it being on several websites. They cater to as you mentioned, Thai gamblers. Thai's don't like foreigners aka "farangs". I don't think "big" players go there with Macau and Singapore close enough, but who ever knows these days. Lastly, sex without using a pimp is available for $5.usd. in Poi Pet proper(dirt roads and dirty rooms usually built with wood and having open slits in the roof and floor, no linens) The $13.usd figure must be 400-500baht and as someone mentioned, may not be "full service" and only a knock on the door, you being hustled for more money if he/she comes in your room.
Mikey75
Mikey75
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April 8th, 2015 at 8:30:44 PM permalink
Anyone have any current information on casinos here? I'd love to know the BJ rules and the minimum and maximum bet. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
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