There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where casino gaming is not allowed. Eight gambling halls are established in a relatively tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a prime destination, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing income accrued from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; although, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are apparently needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is true of most border crossings.
The initial Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship casino, highlights 150 one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 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 initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel building that features numerous comforts on top of the gambling hall, which offers ten thousand square feet of 130 one armed bandits and eighty eight tables.
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