There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall wagering is banned. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent area, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and though visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are means around this, as is accurate of many borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat casino, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slots and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel compound that contains a number of luxuries in addition to the gambling den, which provides ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machine games and 88 table games.