There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den wagering is against the law. Eight casinos are based in a generally small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in an excellent area, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; although, funding sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 1700, and even though visas are supposedly necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of many borders.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling hall, features 150 slots and sixty tables. The Naga river boat is open all day and night with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of blackjack, ten 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, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long opened. There are 150 slot machines and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and ninety six table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel compound that features many amenities accompanying the gambling hall, which offers 10,000 square feet of 130 one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.