There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den gaming is not legal. Eight gambling dens are established in a generally small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent area, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million, and there are a few limitations constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 1700, and although visas are for all intents and purposes required to pass, there are methods around this, as is correct of most borders.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau gambling hall, contains 150 slots and sixty table games. The Naga casino is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 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 initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slots and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive resort and hotel compound that highlights numerous conveniences in addition to the gambling den, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 tables.