There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime spot, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; although, financing sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 17:00, and though visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary bateau gambling hall, features 150 slot machines and sixty gaming tables. The Naga casino is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the common gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational resort and hotel complex that highlights a number of conveniences on top of the gambling hall, which has ten thousand square feet of 130 slots and 88 tables.