There is an appealing story to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling den betting is illegal. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent spot, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; although, funding sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 1700, and even though visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The 1st Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored barge casino, highlights 150 one armed bandits and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machine games and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six table games, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the normal table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around resort and hotel complex that contains numerous comforts in addition to the gambling hall, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight tables.