There is an appealing story to the Cambodia casinos that lie just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall wagering is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are situated in a relatively tiny area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a prime spot, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of limitations constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; although, financing 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 accurate of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling den, features 150 slot machine games and sixty tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational vacation and hotel building that highlights many amenities accompanying the gambling den, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machine games and eighty eight tables.
