There is a captivating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling den gambling is not allowed. Eight casinos are situated in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect spot, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are supposedly necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of most borders.
The original Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge casino, contains one hundred and fifty slot machine games and sixty table games. The Naga river boat never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and seventy 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 popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a comprehensive resort and hotel complex that features numerous comforts on top of the casino, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slots and eighty eight tables.