There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall gambling is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are based in a relatively small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent location, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of limitations requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; still, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is correct of most borders.
The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored boat gambling hall, features 150 one armed bandits and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel building that features a number of conveniences in addition to the gambling hall, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and 88 table games.
