There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling hall wagering is not allowed. Eight casinos are based in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime destination, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; still, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are supposedly needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is real of most borders.
The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge casino, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 table games. The Naga casino is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are 150 slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machine games and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel complex that highlights many luxuries accompanying the casino, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 gaming tables.
