There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling hall gaming is prohibited. Eight casinos are based in a generally tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent destination, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income accrued from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of most borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat gambling hall, features 150 one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga river boat is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of 150 slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and 66 of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that contains a number of comforts on top of the gambling den, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight table games.