There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling den gaming is prohibited. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent spot, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are allegedly required to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of most borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat casino, features 150 one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga casino is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slot machines and five table games 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 slots and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive vacation and hotel complex that contains numerous luxuries on top of the gambling den, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 gaming tables.
