There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just over the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are established in a generally tiny space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect area, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming 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 capital accrued from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is accurate of many borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling hall, features 150 slot machine games and sixty tables. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most popular 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 a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel building that highlights a number of amenities accompanying the casino, which provides ten thousand square feet of 130 slots and eighty eight table games.