There is a captivating background to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den wagering is prohibited. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime area, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai laborers and visitors 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 to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few limitations constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; however, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are allegedly necessary to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is real of most borders.
The original Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling hall, features 150 slot machines and 60 tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are 150 slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel compound that highlights many comforts aside from the gambling hall, which provides ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and eighty eight tables.