There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is against the law. Eight gambling halls are established in a generally small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent spot, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular betting centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income gained from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; although, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and though visas are allegedly needed to cross, there are means around this, as is real of many borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored boat casino, features 150 slot machines and 60 gaming tables. The Naga casino never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits 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 eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel compound that highlights many conveniences aside from the casino, which provides ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machines and 88 table games.