There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is against the law. Eight casinos are situated in a relatively tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime location, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The amazing capital acquired from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; still, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and though visas are for all intents and purposes required to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship casino, features one hundred and fifty slots and 60 table games. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of 150 slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machine games and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the familiar tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel building that highlights many luxuries on top of the gambling den, which offers ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and 88 table games.