There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall wagering is illegal. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a prime area, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; however, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and despite the fact visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored barge gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty slots and 60 table games. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of vingt-et-un, ten 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, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slot machine games and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machines and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and ninety six table games, including 87 punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel compound that highlights many luxuries on top of the gambling hall, which has 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 tables.