There is a captivating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall gaming is banned. Eight gambling halls are based in a generally tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent spot, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; although, investment sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 1700, and although visas are supposedly necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of most borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau gambling hall, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 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 ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational vacation and hotel building that features numerous luxuries on top of the gambling den, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 tables.