There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the border from next door Thailand, in which gambling den gaming is banned. Eight gambling halls are established in a generally tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in a prime spot, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge 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 dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are supposedly needed to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling den, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machines and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are 150 slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved 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 table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel compound that features many comforts aside from the gambling den, which offers 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and eighty eight table games.