There is an appealing story to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the border from nearby Thailand, where casino betting is not legal. Eight gambling dens are situated in a generally small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime spot, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; although, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is correct of most borders.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau casino, features one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of 150 one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel complex that contains a number of amenities aside from the gambling hall, which has 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight gaming tables.