There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, in which casino gambling is prohibited. Eight casinos are established in a generally tiny area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect area, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; although, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 1700, and although visas are apparently required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked bateau gambling hall, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of 21, 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, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos 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 is located in a comprehensive resort and hotel complex that contains a number of luxuries in addition to the gambling den, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 table games.