There is an interesting story to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling hall gambling is against the law. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent location, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat gambling hall, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the common table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel building that contains numerous conveniences in addition to the gambling hall, which offers 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight tables.
