There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where casino gaming is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are situated in a generally tiny space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime location, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; although, financial sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are supposedly necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is accurate of most borders.
The first Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge casino, features 150 slots and sixty tables. The Naga river boat never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long opened. A total of 150 slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive resort and hotel building that features a number of comforts aside from the gambling den, which has 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.