There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which casino gaming is prohibited. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally tiny area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect location, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of limitations constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; although, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and even though visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is correct of many borders.
The first Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling hall, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 tables. The Naga casino never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 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 soon opened. There are one hundred and fifty slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the common tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight casinos in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel building that highlights a number of luxuries accompanying the gambling hall, which houses ten thousand square feet of 130 slots and eighty eight gaming tables.