There is a captivating background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the border from nearby Thailand, where casino gambling is not permitted. Eight casinos are situated in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect destination, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; although, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are methods around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling hall, features 150 slots and sixty table games. The Naga casino is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slots and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the normal table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive resort and hotel compound that features numerous amenities accompanying the casino, which contains 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machine games and eighty eight gaming tables.