There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, where casino betting is banned. Eight casinos are based in a generally small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect location, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; still, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are allegedly needed to cross, there are methods around this, as is real of most borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship casino, features one hundred and fifty slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slots and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel complex that contains many luxuries accompanying the gambling hall, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machine games and eighty eight gaming tables.
