There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the border from next door Thailand, in which gambling hall betting is against the law. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing income gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few limitations requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; still, financing sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are apparently needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau casino, highlights 150 one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machine games and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the common table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that features numerous comforts aside from the gambling hall, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight table games.