There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which casino wagering is not legal. Eight casinos are situated in a generally tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent area, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The amazing capital acquired from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are apparently required to pass, there are methods around this, as is correct of most borders.
The first Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored ship gambling hall, contains 150 slot machine games and 60 table games. The Naga casino is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 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 original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machine games and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, 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. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that highlights many amenities in addition to the gambling hall, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.