There is an interesting history to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling den gaming is banned. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect area, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of limitations constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; although, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and though visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are means around this, as is accurate of many border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slots and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive resort and hotel compound that contains a number of amenities in addition to the casino, which provides ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slots and eighty eight table games.