There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia casinos that lie just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, where casino gaming is not legal. Eight gambling halls are established in a generally small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect area, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal capital acquired from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of limitations requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; however, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and despite the fact visas are supposedly necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is accurate of most borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge casino, contains 150 slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties 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 sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and sixty six of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 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 is located in a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that highlights numerous comforts in addition to the gambling den, which offers 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and eighty eight table games.