There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where casino gaming is against the law. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a relatively tiny location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect area, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; still, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 1700, and although visas are supposedly needed to cross, there are methods around this, as is accurate of most borders.
The 1st Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship casino, contains 150 one armed bandits and 60 gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of chemin de fer, 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, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and ninety six table games, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel complex that contains numerous conveniences aside from the gambling den, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 tables.