There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where casino gaming is not permitted. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect location, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of limitations constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are for all intents and purposes needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is correct of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling hall, features 150 slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machine games and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that features a number of amenities in addition to the gambling hall, which provides ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight tables.
