There is a captivating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which casino gaming is not legal. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a relatively tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; although, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 1700, and though visas are supposedly required to cross, there are means around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling dens premiered 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 docked barge gambling den, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino 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 104 slot machine games and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slots and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the normal table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel complex that highlights many comforts on top of the gambling den, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 table games.