There is an interesting story to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling den wagering is banned. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent location, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, funding sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and even though visas are apparently required to pass, there are means around this, as is true of most borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary bateau casino, features 150 slot machines and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the common table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel complex that contains numerous conveniences in addition to the casino, which offers 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 table games.