There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling hall gambling is not allowed. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent location, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital acquired from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a few limitations constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; however, investment sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 17:00, and although visas are apparently required to pass, there are means around this, as is real of many borders.
The original Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship casino, contains 150 slot machines and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational vacation and hotel complex that contains numerous comforts in addition to the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of 130 one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.