There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which gambling den wagering is not allowed. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime area, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; although, funding sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and even though visas are allegedly needed to pass, there are methods around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling den, contains 150 slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are one hundred and fifty slot machines and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the common table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive vacation and hotel compound that highlights a number of comforts in addition to the gambling hall, which contains 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.