There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall gambling is not permitted. Eight casinos are established in a relatively tiny area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent area, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; although, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are allegedly needed to cross, there are means around this, as is real of many borders.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship casino, contains 150 slot machines and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 slot machines and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slots and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six 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 machine games and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational vacation and hotel compound that highlights a number of conveniences aside from the casino, which provides ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.