There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which casino gaming is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are established in a generally small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent location, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, investment sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 17:00, and though visas are supposedly required to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is correct of many borders.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked bateau gambling hall, highlights 150 slot machine games and sixty tables. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the common table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel complex that highlights many comforts accompanying the casino, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight table games.