There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall wagering is prohibited. Eight casinos are based in a relatively small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect spot, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 1700, and although visas are apparently required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is accurate of many border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat gambling hall, features 150 slot machine games and sixty tables. The Naga river boat is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 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 eighty seven baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive vacation and hotel complex that contains numerous conveniences accompanying the casino, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight gaming tables.