There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just across the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den gaming is banned. Eight casinos are based in a generally small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; although, funding sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 1700, and although visas are apparently needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is accurate of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling hall, highlights one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga casino is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 slot machines and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 one armed bandits and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel compound that features many comforts aside from the casino, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machine games and eighty eight tables.
