There is an appealing background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den gaming is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are situated in a relatively small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime area, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of limitations constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of most borders.
The original Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling hall, highlights one hundred and fifty slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slots and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the common table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel compound that highlights numerous luxuries aside from the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight table games.
