Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling den gambling is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are based in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of limitations requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, funding sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are apparently needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of most border crossings.

The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat gambling hall, highlights 150 one armed bandits and 60 gaming tables. The Naga river boat is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the familiar tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around vacation and hotel building that features a number of conveniences aside from the gambling den, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight gaming tables.