There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the border from next door Thailand, where gambling den betting is not legal. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent spot, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 17:00, and even though visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are means around this, as is true of most borders.
The first Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat casino, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and seventy table games 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 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel building that highlights numerous conveniences on top of the gambling den, which provides 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight table games.
