There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the border from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is against the law. Eight gambling halls are established in a generally tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent spot, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a few limitations constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and though visas are allegedly needed to pass, there are methods around this, as is true of most borders.
The first Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling hall, highlights 150 slots and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of twenty-one, 10 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 quickly followed. There are 150 slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel complex that highlights many luxuries accompanying the casino, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 gaming tables.