There is a captivating story to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is illegal. Eight gambling dens are situated in a relatively tiny space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a prime spot, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few limitations constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is correct of many borders.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty slots and 60 gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the common table games, as well as one 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 slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around resort and hotel building that features numerous luxuries in addition to the casino, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight tables.