There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the border from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is not legal. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; although, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 1700, and though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to cross, there are methods around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga casino is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 slot machine games and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel compound that contains many luxuries on top of the gambling hall, which provides 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 gaming tables.
