There is a captivating story to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall gambling is banned. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime location, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, funding sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are allegedly necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is real of most borders.
The first Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling hall, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and sixty tables. The Naga river boat is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 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 ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the familiar tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel complex that features many conveniences on top of the casino, which offers ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight gaming tables.