There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where casino gambling is not legal. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a generally tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect location, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, funding sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are methods around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling hall, highlights 150 slot machines and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slots and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and 66 of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive resort and hotel complex that contains a number of luxuries on top of the gambling hall, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight table games.