There is a captivating story to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall wagering is not permitted. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally small space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; although, funding sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and even though visas are apparently necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is real of most borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored ship gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive vacation and hotel building that contains numerous luxuries in addition to the gambling hall, which offers ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.