There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling den gambling is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime location, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few 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 few controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; although, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 17:00, and even though visas are apparently necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is real of many borders.
The original Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty slot machines and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of twenty-one, 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, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel compound that contains a number of conveniences in addition to the gambling hall, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight table games.