There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the border from next door Thailand, where gambling den wagering is illegal. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a relatively tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent destination, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; although, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored ship gambling hall, highlights 150 slot machine games and 60 table games. The Naga casino is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two 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 followed. A total of 150 slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest 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 slot machines and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that contains a number of amenities in addition to the casino, which offers ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 table games.