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There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall betting is prohibited. Eight gambling dens are based in a generally tiny area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent location, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 1700, and even though visas are supposedly required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many borders.

The original Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked bateau gambling hall, features 150 slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The first gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 one armed bandits and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive vacation and hotel building that highlights a number of conveniences aside from the casino, which offers ten thousand square feet of 130 one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.