There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where casino wagering is illegal. Eight gambling dens are established in a generally tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect destination, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of limitations requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; although, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are apparently needed to pass, there are methods around this, as is accurate of many borders.
The original Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat casino, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slot machines and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as 1 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 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel building that features a number of conveniences in addition to the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight tables.