There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den gaming is illegal. Eight casinos are established in a generally small space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect area, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos 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 capital gained from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; although, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are apparently necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat gambling den, contains 150 slots and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and 70 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 eighty seven baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the familiar tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational resort and hotel compound that features many comforts accompanying the gambling hall, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 gaming tables.