There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is not permitted. Eight casinos are established in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect location, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital gained from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few limitations constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; still, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are allegedly required to pass, there are means around this, as is true of most borders.
The original Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat casino, highlights 150 slot machine games and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, 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 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel compound that highlights a number of comforts on top of the casino, which houses ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight gaming tables.