There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the border from nearby Thailand, where casino gambling is not legal. Eight gambling dens are based in a generally small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect area, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and though visas are apparently required to cross, there are ways around this, as is real of many borders.
The 1st Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat casino, highlights one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slot machines and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel complex that highlights many comforts aside from the gambling hall, which houses 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 table games.