There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den gaming is not permitted. Eight casinos are based in a relatively tiny location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect location, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 1700, and though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat gambling den, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and sixty table games. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slot machines and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, 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 slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive resort and hotel compound that contains many comforts aside from the casino, which contains ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight tables.