There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall wagering is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively tiny location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect location, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are for all intents and purposes required to pass, there are methods around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored barge gambling hall, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga casino is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the familiar tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around resort and hotel compound that features a number of comforts on top of the gambling hall, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight table games.