There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect area, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital gained from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; still, funding sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are supposedly required to pass, there are methods around this, as is accurate of most borders.
The original Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat casino, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and sixty table games. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 table games, 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 slot machine games and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive vacation and hotel building that features numerous luxuries aside from the gambling den, which offers 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight gaming tables.