There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is not allowed. Eight gambling halls are based in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect location, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The astonishing income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; although, investment sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are supposedly needed to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat gambling hall, highlights one hundred and fifty slots and sixty table games. The Naga casino is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and 66 of the common table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more 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 part of an all-around vacation and hotel building that features many amenities on top of the gambling hall, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight gaming tables.