There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling hall gambling is illegal. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime destination, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and despite the fact visas are allegedly necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling hall, highlights 150 slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and 66 of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel complex that contains many amenities on top of the gambling hall, which offers ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight table games.