There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is illegal. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect location, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; still, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 17:00, and although visas are apparently required to pass, there are methods around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship casino, contains 150 slots and sixty table games. The Naga casino is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive resort and hotel building that contains many comforts in addition to the casino, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and eighty eight tables.