There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall wagering is illegal. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally tiny space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect destination, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; although, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling hall, features 150 slot machine games and 60 gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the common tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive vacation and hotel complex that contains many comforts accompanying the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight gaming tables.