There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den wagering is banned. Eight gambling halls are based in a generally small space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect spot, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and even though visas are apparently needed to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is correct of most borders.
The original Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored barge casino, features 150 slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga casino never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slots and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel complex that contains numerous conveniences in addition to the casino, which offers ten thousand square feet of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight gaming tables.