There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall betting is not legal. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a generally tiny space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect area, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, investment sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is real of many borders.
The original Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored barge casino, highlights 150 slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table 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 quickly opened. A total of 150 slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slots and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel compound that contains a number of conveniences on top of the gambling den, which contains ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machine games and 88 tables.