There is a captivating history to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the border from nearby Thailand, in which casino gambling is banned. Eight gambling halls are established in a relatively small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent area, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; although, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 17:00, and though visas are supposedly required to pass, there are means around this, as is true of most borders.
The initial Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive resort and hotel complex that features many amenities in addition to the gambling den, which offers ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight gaming tables.