There is an interesting story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the border from next door Thailand, where casino wagering is not legal. Eight casinos are based in a generally small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent area, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; although, funding sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are apparently necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is true of many borders.
The 1st Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling den, contains 150 slot machine games and 60 table games. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 slot machines and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the common tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel building that contains many amenities in addition to the gambling hall, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 table games.