There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the border from nearby Thailand, in which casino wagering is banned. Eight gambling dens are situated in a generally tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime destination, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, investment sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and even though visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are means around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored boat casino, features 150 slots and sixty tables. The Naga river boat is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 one armed bandits and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel complex that features a number of conveniences aside from the gambling hall, which houses 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight table games.