There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is against the law. Eight gambling halls are situated in a generally small space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect spot, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and even though visas are apparently needed to pass, there are methods around this, as is accurate of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat gambling hall, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table 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 followed. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machine games and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around resort and hotel compound that features a number of comforts in addition to the gambling hall, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 tables.
