There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall wagering is banned. Eight casinos are situated in a generally small space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent area, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 1700, and though visas are for all intents and purposes required to pass, there are methods 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 a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling den, features 150 slot machines and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of 21, 10 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 opened. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive vacation and hotel complex that features a number of amenities on top of the casino, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight tables.