There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling den betting is illegal. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent destination, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gambling centers 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 couple of Westerners. The amazing capital acquired from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, financing sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are apparently required to cross, there are means around this, as is true of most borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling den, highlights one hundred and fifty 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 twenty-one, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of 150 slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machines and 70 tables 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. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and sixty six of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel building that features many luxuries in addition to the gambling hall, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight gaming tables.
