There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is banned. Eight gambling dens are situated in a relatively tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent spot, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The astonishing capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half 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 vague. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 17:00, and although visas are for all intents and purposes needed to pass, there are means around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling hall, features 150 slot machines and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive vacation and hotel building that contains many conveniences on top of the casino, which contains 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight tables.