There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall betting is banned. Eight casinos are situated in a generally small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent destination, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular betting centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, investment sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 17:00, and although visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of most borders.
The 1st Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary bateau casino, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga casino never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slots and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the familiar tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational resort and hotel building that highlights numerous luxuries accompanying the gambling den, which offers ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight tables.