There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that sit just over the border from next door Thailand, where casino gambling is illegal. Eight casinos are anchored in a relatively small location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent destination, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors 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 dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; although, investment sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are for all intents and purposes required to pass, there are methods around this, as is true of many borders.
The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat casino, highlights 150 slot machines and sixty tables. The Naga river boat never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 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 soon followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight table games 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 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the common table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel complex that contains numerous amenities aside from the gambling den, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 tables.
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