There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just over the border from nearby Thailand, where casino gaming is against the law. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent destination, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing capital accrued from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; still, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 1700, and though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is accurate of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat casino, features 150 slots and sixty table games. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel complex that highlights many comforts aside from the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight gaming tables.