There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling den gaming is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are based in a generally small location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect spot, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; still, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 1700, and even though visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of most borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored barge gambling den, highlights 150 slot machines and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the common tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around resort and hotel building that features a number of comforts aside from the gambling hall, which provides 10,000 square feet of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight table games.
