There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that lie just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling den betting is illegal. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; although, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 17:00, and though visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored boat gambling den, features one hundred and fifty slots and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slots and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the common table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international resort and hotel building that features many luxuries accompanying the casino, which houses ten thousand square feet of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight tables.
