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There is an interesting history to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling den wagering is prohibited. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime destination, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are apparently required to pass, there are ways around this, as is accurate of many border crossings.
The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat gambling den, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 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 soon followed. A total of 150 slot machine games and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred one armed bandits and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety six table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the common tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that contains numerous luxuries accompanying the gambling hall, which offers 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 gaming tables.
