There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the dividing line from nearby Thailand, in which casino gaming is not legal. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a generally small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are allegedly needed to cross, there are means around this, as is accurate of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling den, features one hundred and fifty slots and sixty tables. The Naga casino is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel compound that highlights many conveniences on top of the gambling hall, which houses 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.
