There is an interesting story to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling den wagering is illegal. Eight casinos are established in a relatively small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent destination, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 1700, and though visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many borders.
The original Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat casino, contains 150 one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive resort and hotel compound that highlights a number of comforts on top of the gambling den, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 tables.