There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the border from next door Thailand, in which casino wagering is not legal. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively small space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime area, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, financing sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat gambling hall, contains 150 one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and 66 of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive resort and hotel compound that contains a number of amenities in addition to the gambling den, which provides ten thousand square feet of 130 slots and 88 gaming tables.