There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which casino gaming is banned. Eight casinos are established in a generally small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect location, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; although, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally 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 ways around this, as is real of most borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling hall, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machine games and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around resort and hotel building that highlights a number of amenities on top of the gambling hall, which provides ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 gaming tables.