There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the border from nearby Thailand, where casino gaming is banned. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent destination, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income gained from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; although, funding sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and even though visas are supposedly necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of many borders.
The original Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling den, contains 150 slot machine games and 60 table games. The Naga river boat never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around vacation and hotel complex that features a number of conveniences on top of the gambling den, which offers ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 table games.