There is an interesting history to the Cambodia casinos that lie just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling den betting is banned. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent spot, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of limitations constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; still, financing sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and despite the fact visas are apparently needed to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many borders.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat gambling hall, contains 150 slots and 60 tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of 150 slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machine games and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 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 familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive vacation and hotel building that features many comforts accompanying the gambling hall, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 table games.
