There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall betting is not allowed. Eight casinos are based in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect location, a three 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 laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; although, financial sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are supposedly required to cross, there are methods around this, as is accurate of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship casino, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, 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. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around vacation and hotel complex that contains a number of amenities accompanying the casino, which has ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 tables.
