There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den gaming is banned. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in a prime area, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although 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 halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary bateau gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga casino never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are one hundred and fifty slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, 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 a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel compound that features many conveniences accompanying the casino, which offers 10,000 square feet of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight tables.
