From April 2017.
The heart of Cambodia’s professional poker scene can be found in a dilapidated Phnom Penh hotel. The receptionist, bathed in the lobby’s yellowish light, nods sheepishly toward a door in the corner. It is an inconspicuous setting in a city crammed full of inconspicuous settings, where such low-rent hotels offer few amenities and ask fewer questions.
The Westerners are mostly full-time players, known on the scene as ‘grinders’, who make a living from the game. The locals are usually referred to as ‘fish’ – casual gamblers, playing for fun. Most of these fish hail from the upper echelons of Cambodian society and are not too fussy about the losses they incur. The grinders lie in wait for their prey in tall, black leather chairs.
The Riverking’s general manager, a Khmer-American who was deported from the US eight years ago and gave his name only as Vi,........
Indeed, according to Vi, the Riverking was set up by a senior figure in the Cambodian government whose identity remains fiercely guarded.
The percentage fee taken by the house operating a poker game, known as ‘the rake’, is also miniscule in Cambodia compared to elsewhere. “The rake in Cambodia is cheaper than in any other Asian country,” Vi claimed. “At certain big casinos here, they take crazy [high] rakes, but in local poker rooms, the rake is actually very small.”
People can’t control themselves. They end up drinking and spending too much. I’ve known people who were doing well but came here and are now meth heads on the street.” Over the past few years, a number of Jones’ close friends, also poker players, have passed away.
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http://sea-globe.com/cambodian-poker/