There is an interesting story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which casino wagering is prohibited. Eight casinos are situated in a relatively small space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a prime area, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; however, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 1700, and though visas are supposedly needed to cross, there are means around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau casino, features 150 slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga casino is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are one hundred and fifty slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant 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 common gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel complex that highlights numerous luxuries in addition to the gambling hall, which has ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.