There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den wagering is illegal. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a generally tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect location, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few restrictions requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; however, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 1700, and despite the fact visas are apparently necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling den, features 150 slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machines and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel compound that highlights many amenities aside from the gambling den, which houses ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.