There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall betting is prohibited. Eight casinos are situated in a relatively tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent area, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; however, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and though visas are apparently needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of most borders.
The first Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the common tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive vacation and hotel complex that features many conveniences accompanying the gambling hall, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machine games and 88 gaming tables.