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There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall gambling is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are situated in a relatively tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime spot, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and despite the fact visas are supposedly necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of many borders.

The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau gambling hall, features 150 slot machine games and 60 table games. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machine games and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the familiar tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive resort and hotel compound that highlights a number of amenities in addition to the gambling den, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 tables.