There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the border from nearby Thailand, in which casino gambling is banned. Eight casinos are established in a generally tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent destination, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; although, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are allegedly required to cross, there are ways around this, as is correct of most borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling den, highlights 150 slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are 150 one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel complex that features a number of amenities on top of the casino, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and eighty eight table games.