There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall betting is against the law. Eight casinos are based in a relatively tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a few controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; although, investment sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 17:00, and even though visas are supposedly needed to cross, there are means around this, as is real of many borders.
The first Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored barge gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 gaming tables. The Naga casino is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel complex that features a number of amenities on top of the gambling den, which offers ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight gaming tables.