There is an appealing background to the Cambodia casinos that lie just across the border from next door Thailand, where casino wagering is not allowed. Eight casinos are situated in a relatively tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a prime location, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; although, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are apparently required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is correct of many borders.
The original Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored barge casino, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty table games. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and sixty six of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel building that contains many conveniences accompanying the gambling hall, which has ten thousand square feet of 130 one armed bandits and 88 tables.