There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, where casino gambling is not legal. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent destination, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving 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 gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are supposedly necessary to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of many borders.
The original Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship casino, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slots and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the common gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel building that highlights many comforts accompanying the casino, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight table games.
