There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, in which casino gambling is banned. Eight casinos are established in a relatively tiny location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime destination, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, financial sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and despite the fact visas are allegedly required to pass, there are methods around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat gambling den, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga casino is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest 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 one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive resort and hotel compound that highlights many luxuries on top of the gambling den, which provides 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.