There is an interesting story to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the border from nearby Thailand, in which gambling den betting is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally small space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect destination, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; still, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are supposedly necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is true of many borders.
The 1st Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary bateau gambling den, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and 70 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 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel compound that highlights numerous conveniences on top of the gambling den, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 gaming tables.