There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just over the border from next door Thailand, where casino betting is against the law. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect location, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing capital acquired from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; although, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and even though visas are supposedly needed to cross, there are means around this, as is correct of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling den, features one hundred and fifty slots and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are 150 one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six table games, including 87 punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the common tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international resort and hotel compound that contains numerous conveniences on top of the gambling den, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight table games.