There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall gambling is illegal. Eight casinos are situated in a relatively small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect destination, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing capital acquired from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; although, financing sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are apparently required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat gambling den, contains 150 slot machines and sixty table games. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of 150 slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred one armed bandits and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (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. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel building that highlights many amenities aside from the gambling hall, which offers ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 gaming tables.