There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling den betting is not allowed. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a generally tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime spot, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, investment sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are supposedly necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary bateau gambling den, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 tables. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 one armed bandits and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel complex that contains numerous luxuries on top of the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and 88 gaming tables.