There is an appealing story to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, in which gambling den betting is banned. Eight gambling halls are established in a relatively small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in a prime spot, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; although, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are apparently necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling hall, contains 150 slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and 66 of the common gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel complex that highlights a number of amenities on top of the gambling den, which provides ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 table games.