There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which casino betting is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect area, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 1700, and though visas are supposedly required to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many borders.
The first Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge casino, highlights one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machines and seventy 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. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and sixty six of the common gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel compound that contains a number of comforts on top of the gambling den, which has ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight tables.