There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall betting is not permitted. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent spot, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 17:00, and even though visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary bateau gambling hall, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machines and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the normal table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that contains a number of conveniences accompanying the gambling den, which offers ten thousand square feet of 130 one armed bandits and 88 table games.