There is a captivating background to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is not permitted. Eight gambling halls are established in a generally tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent destination, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of limitations constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; still, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and even though visas are apparently needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge casino, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga gambling den is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the familiar tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive vacation and hotel complex that highlights a number of conveniences aside from the gambling den, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.