There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, in which casino betting is banned. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent area, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; still, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is accurate of many borders.
The first Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored ship gambling hall, highlights 150 slot machines and 60 tables. The Naga casino is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive resort and hotel compound that features numerous amenities in addition to the gambling hall, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight tables.
