There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the border from nearby Thailand, in which casino wagering is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few 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 number of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; although, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 17:00, and although visas are apparently needed to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of most borders.
The first Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat casino, features one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machines and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slots and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and 66 of the normal table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel building that highlights a number of conveniences accompanying the casino, which has ten thousand square feet of 130 slots and eighty eight tables.