There is a captivating history to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where casino wagering is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are based in a generally tiny area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; still, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are supposedly required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is accurate of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling den, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 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 original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and 68 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 one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational resort and hotel compound that contains a number of amenities accompanying the casino, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and eighty eight tables.
