There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, in which gambling hall wagering is not legal. Eight casinos are based in a relatively small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent area, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing capital acquired from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; although, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are allegedly necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is true of most borders.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat gambling hall, features 150 slots and 60 gaming tables. The Naga casino is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slots and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the familiar tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel building that features many luxuries aside from the casino, which has ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.