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There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the border from neighboring Thailand, where casino wagering is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a generally tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent spot, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, investment sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 1700, and although visas are allegedly necessary to pass, there are methods around this, as is accurate of most borders.

The original Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship casino, highlights 150 slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 slots and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six table games, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the familiar tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel compound that contains numerous comforts in addition to the gambling hall, which offers 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 table games.