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There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where casino gambling is against the law. Eight casinos are situated in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect location, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very 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 few limitations requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and despite the fact visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are means around this, as is true of many border crossings.

The 1st Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge casino, highlights 150 slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga casino is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and 68 tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machine games and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and 66 of the normal gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel complex that contains a number of luxuries on top of the casino, which provides ten thousand square feet of 130 slots and eighty eight gaming tables.