There is a captivating history to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the border from nearby Thailand, in which casino gambling is not legal. Eight casinos are established in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent spot, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 1700, and although visas are allegedly needed to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is true of most borders.
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 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge casino, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slots and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around resort and hotel compound that features many conveniences accompanying the gambling hall, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and 88 gaming tables.