There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den betting is illegal. Eight casinos are situated in a generally tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent location, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; although, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are supposedly required to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is accurate of most borders.
The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship casino, contains 150 slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga casino is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slots and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive resort and hotel complex that highlights numerous luxuries in addition to the gambling hall, which has 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 tables.