There is an appealing history to the Cambodia casinos that reside just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling den gaming is illegal. Eight gambling halls are situated in a generally tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital acquired from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; still, investment sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat gambling den, contains 150 one armed bandits and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are 150 slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machine games and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the common tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel complex that contains many conveniences on top of the gambling den, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight table games.