There is an interesting history to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall betting is illegal. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect area, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; however, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 17:00, and although visas are supposedly necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty slots and sixty tables. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machine games and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive resort and hotel complex that features a number of luxuries accompanying the casino, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight table games.