There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is not permitted. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a generally small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a prime location, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 1700, and although visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is correct of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty slots and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long opened. There are 150 slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the common tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel compound that features numerous amenities in addition to the casino, which contains 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machines and eighty eight tables.
