There is an appealing story to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the border from next door Thailand, where gambling den wagering is against the law. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent spot, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; still, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are supposedly required to cross, there are methods around this, as is real of most borders.
The original Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship casino, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and 96 table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive vacation and hotel compound that features many conveniences accompanying the casino, which houses ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight tables.