There is a captivating story to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the border from next door Thailand, in which gambling den wagering is not allowed. Eight gambling halls are established in a generally small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a prime spot, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing income accrued from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; although, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and though visas are for all intents and purposes required to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling hall, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table 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 followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the common tables, as well as one 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 ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational resort and hotel compound that features a number of comforts accompanying the casino, which has ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight table games.