There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling den gambling is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are established in a relatively tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent area, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; although, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling hall, highlights 150 one armed bandits and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of 150 slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the familiar tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive vacation and hotel building that highlights numerous comforts aside from the casino, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 tables.