There is a captivating story to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the border from nearby Thailand, where casino gaming is illegal. Eight gambling halls are established in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a prime destination, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a few limitations requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, funding sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are means around this, as is accurate of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling den, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are one hundred and fifty slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machine games and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the common tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international resort and hotel complex that features a number of conveniences on top of the gambling hall, which provides ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.