There is a captivating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the border from next door Thailand, where gambling hall betting is banned. Eight casinos are based in a generally tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; still, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 1700, and even though visas are allegedly necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked bateau casino, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machines and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 one armed bandits and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slots and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the normal tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel building that features many luxuries on top of the casino, which houses 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight table games.