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There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which casino gambling is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are situated in a generally tiny space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a prime area, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of limitations constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mainly Thai; still, financing sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 17:00, and though visas are supposedly necessary to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of most border crossings.

The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling hall, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the common gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel building that contains a number of comforts on top of the gambling den, which provides 10,000 square feet of 130 slots and 88 table games.