There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just across the border from nearby Thailand, in which gambling den gaming is banned. Eight casinos are established in a generally tiny location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect destination, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; although, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and though visas are supposedly necessary to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling hall, highlights one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga casino is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around resort and hotel building that contains many luxuries accompanying the gambling den, which contains 10,000 square feet of 130 one armed bandits and 88 table games.