There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling den gaming is not allowed. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a generally tiny space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of limitations requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; however, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are apparently required to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is real of most borders.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship casino, features 150 slots and sixty table games. The Naga river boat never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long opened. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety six table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that highlights a number of amenities accompanying the casino, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and 88 table games.
