There is an appealing history to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, in which casino wagering is not legal. Eight casinos are situated in a generally tiny area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent location, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; still, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are apparently needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat casino, contains 150 slot machines and sixty table games. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slots and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the common table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel building that features a number of amenities in addition to the casino, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 table games.