There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just across the border from next door Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is prohibited. Eight casinos are based in a generally small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a prime area, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a few limitations requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is correct of many borders.
The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge casino, contains 150 slot machines and 60 tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long opened. A total of 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that features numerous luxuries aside from the casino, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 tables.