There is an interesting story to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling den wagering is prohibited. Eight casinos are situated in a generally tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent destination, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, financial sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are methods around this, as is correct of many border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling hall, features 150 one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machines and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel building that contains a number of amenities accompanying the gambling den, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machine games and eighty eight tables.