There is a captivating history to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling den gaming is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are situated in a relatively small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular betting centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; although, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 1700, and despite the fact visas are for all intents and purposes required to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of most border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling hall, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slots and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and sixty six 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 one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel compound that contains many conveniences aside from the casino, which houses ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and 88 tables.