There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling den wagering is against the law. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively small location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent destination, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; still, financing sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are supposedly required to cross, there are ways around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling den, contains 150 slot machines and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and 66 of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive resort and hotel complex that highlights a number of amenities in addition to the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight tables.