There is a captivating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling den wagering is prohibited. Eight casinos are based in a relatively tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect location, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; still, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 1700, and although visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is correct of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored boat casino, highlights 150 one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around vacation and hotel building that contains numerous luxuries in addition to the casino, which contains ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.