There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling den betting is banned. Eight casinos are established in a relatively small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in a prime location, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of limitations constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; still, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and even though visas are allegedly necessary to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is correct of most borders.
The initial Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling den, contains 150 slot machines and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 one armed bandits and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel complex that highlights numerous luxuries on top of the casino, which provides 10,000 square feet of 130 one armed bandits and 88 tables.
