There is an interesting history to the Cambodia casinos that lie just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is prohibited. Eight gambling dens are situated in a relatively tiny space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime area, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; although, financing sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and though visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of many borders.
The initial Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling hall, features one hundred and fifty slots and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are one hundred and fifty slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machine games and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the normal tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel complex that contains numerous amenities in addition to the gambling den, which offers 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.