There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where casino gaming is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime area, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 17:00, and although visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is accurate of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge casino, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machine games and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel building that features a number of amenities aside from the casino, which offers 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.