There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall wagering is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are established in a relatively tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent destination, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; still, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and though visas are apparently needed to cross, there are ways 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 1998, leaving just one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling hall, features 150 slot machine games and 60 table games. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games 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 table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the common gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel building that features many amenities accompanying the casino, which houses 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight table games.