There is a captivating story to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which casino gambling is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are based in a generally small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect spot, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; still, financial sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and despite the fact visas are supposedly required to cross, there are means around this, as is accurate of most borders.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge casino, features 150 one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga casino is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six table games, including 87 punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the familiar tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos 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 comprehensive resort and hotel building that highlights a number of comforts in addition to the casino, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight table games.