There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den wagering is prohibited. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime spot, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; still, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is correct of many borders.
The first Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau gambling den, contains 150 slot machines and 60 table games. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 slot machines and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international resort and hotel building that highlights numerous comforts on top of the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.