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There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling den wagering is not legal. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively tiny space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent spot, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are allegedly necessary to pass, there are methods around this, as is true of many border crossings.

The original Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored ship gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty slots and 60 table games. The Naga gambling hall never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slots and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel compound that features a number of luxuries aside from the casino, which contains ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and 88 table games.