There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, where casino wagering is illegal. Eight gambling halls are situated in a generally small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent location, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest betting centers 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 amazing income gained from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; however, financial sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are apparently required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is accurate of many borders.
The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling den, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 tables. The Naga river boat is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the normal tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive resort and hotel complex that features a number of luxuries accompanying the casino, which has ten thousand square feet of 130 one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.