There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling den betting is illegal. Eight casinos are situated in a generally tiny space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect area, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few limitations requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; still, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 1700, and despite the fact visas are supposedly needed to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The first Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling den, features 150 slots and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machine games and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six table games, including 87 punto banco (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 sixty six of the normal table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that contains many amenities aside from the gambling den, which offers ten thousand square feet of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight table games.