There is an interesting history to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall gambling is not permitted. Eight gambling halls are established in a generally small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent area, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital acquired from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a few limitations requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; although, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and although visas are allegedly required to cross, there are means around this, as is real of most borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling halls 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, a stationary bateau gambling den, features 150 one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga river boat is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machine games and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around vacation and hotel compound that features numerous amenities aside from the gambling den, which contains ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 tables.