There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling den wagering is banned. Eight gambling halls are situated in a relatively small space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime area, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The astonishing capital accrued from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are apparently necessary to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored boat gambling hall, contains 150 slot machines and sixty tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slot machine games and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred one armed bandits and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty six of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive vacation and hotel building that contains many luxuries on top of the casino, which offers ten thousand square feet of 130 slots and 88 tables.
