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There is an interesting story to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is not permitted. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime spot, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, funding sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 1700, and although visas are allegedly needed to cross, there are methods around this, as is real of most borders.

The initial Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat casino, features 150 slot machines and 60 tables. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (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 sixty six of the common tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel complex that features numerous luxuries in addition to the gambling den, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 table games.