There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the border from next door Thailand, where casino gambling is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are established in a generally small space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect spot, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing capital acquired from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; still, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are supposedly required to cross, there are methods around this, as is accurate of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau gambling den, highlights 150 one armed bandits and 60 table games. The Naga casino never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machines and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel compound that contains numerous conveniences accompanying the gambling den, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight table games.