There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the border from neighboring Thailand, where casino wagering is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are situated in a relatively small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect location, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income gained from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; still, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 17:00, and although visas are allegedly needed to pass, there are methods around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge casino, contains 150 one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga casino never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the familiar tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international resort and hotel building that contains numerous amenities in addition to the gambling hall, which houses ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight table games.