There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just over the border from nearby Thailand, in which casino gaming is against the law. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent location, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; however, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are methods around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The first Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau gambling hall, features one hundred and fifty slot machine games and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and 66 of the familiar tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around resort and hotel building that features many luxuries on top of the gambling den, which offers 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight gaming tables.