There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling den wagering is prohibited. Eight casinos are established in a relatively small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime area, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers 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 $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling den, features one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of 21, 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, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. 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 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around vacation and hotel building that features a number of comforts accompanying the casino, which provides ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machine games and eighty eight tables.
