Archive for November, 2016

Bingo in New Mexico

[ English ]

New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force came to an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.

 

Cambodia Gambling Dens

There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the dividing line from nearby Thailand, in which gambling hall wagering is not allowed. Eight gambling halls are established in a relatively tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect spot, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; although, funding sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is real of many border crossings.

The first Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat gambling hall, contains 150 slot machines and sixty table games. The Naga river boat is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machines and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the common gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that highlights a number of amenities accompanying the casino, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight tables.