There is a captivating story to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the border from next door Thailand, in which gambling den gambling is not allowed. Eight casinos are established in a generally tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent location, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The astonishing income acquired from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, investment sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are apparently required to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling den, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, 2 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. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the normal table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational vacation and hotel building that contains numerous comforts on top of the gambling den, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight tables.
