There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just across the border from nearby Thailand, in which gambling den gambling is illegal. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent destination, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the gambling halls 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 casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; still, funding sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are allegedly necessary to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is accurate of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling den, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that features many conveniences in addition to the gambling den, which contains ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight table games.
