There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, in which gambling den wagering is banned. Eight gambling halls are established in a generally tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent area, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing income accrued from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are supposedly required to cross, there are means around this, as is true of many borders.
The original Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau gambling den, features 150 one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety six table games, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as 1 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 one armed bandits and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel compound that contains numerous conveniences aside from the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machine games and eighty eight tables.