There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where casino gambling is not permitted. Eight gambling halls are situated in a generally small space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in a prime spot, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are apparently needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau casino, contains 150 one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the familiar tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive resort and hotel compound that features a number of amenities aside from the gambling den, which has ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight gaming tables.