There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling den gaming is against the law. Eight gambling dens are based in a generally tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in a prime spot, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital acquired from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; still, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and despite the fact visas are allegedly needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is correct of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling den, features 150 slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six table games, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the common gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational resort and hotel compound that highlights a number of amenities accompanying the gambling den, which houses 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machines and eighty eight tables.