There is a captivating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, in which gambling den gambling is illegal. Eight gambling halls are based in a relatively tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime location, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, investment sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 17:00, and even though visas are apparently needed to cross, there are means around this, as is correct of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau gambling hall, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 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 the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slots and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (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 66 of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-around resort and hotel compound that contains many conveniences accompanying the gambling den, which provides ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.