There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is not allowed. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; still, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 17:00, and even though visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is real of many borders.
The 1st Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary bateau gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, two 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 soon followed. There are 150 slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slots and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and 66 of the common table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional 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 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that contains a number of conveniences accompanying the gambling hall, which offers ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 gaming tables.