There is an captivating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall wagering is illegal. Eight casinos are based in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect location, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are couple of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; however, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to cross, there are methods around this, as is accurate of many borders.
The initial Cambodia casinos 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, a moored barge gambling hall, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty tables. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slots and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the normal tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel complex that features many conveniences in addition to the gambling den, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and 88 tables.