There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den gambling is not permitted. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a relatively tiny space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent location, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; however, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 1700, and although visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are means around this, as is real of most borders.
The 1st Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling den, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 tables. The Naga casino is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 one armed bandits and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the common table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that features a number of luxuries aside from the casino, which offers ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machine games and eighty eight table games.
