There is a captivating history to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall betting is prohibited. Eight casinos are based in a generally small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent destination, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; still, investment sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are apparently needed to pass, there are methods around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked bateau gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are one hundred and fifty slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 one armed bandits and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel complex that contains numerous amenities in addition to the casino, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 table games.