There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just across the border from next door Thailand, in which gambling den gaming is against the law. Eight gambling dens are based in a relatively small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent location, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; still, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are supposedly necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of many border crossings.
The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling den, features 150 slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and 66 of the normal table games, 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 one hundred and sixty six slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel complex that contains a number of conveniences in addition to the casino, which contains 10,000 square feet of 130 one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.
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