[ English ]

There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the border from nearby Thailand, where casino wagering is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a relatively tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent location, a 3 to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular betting centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai laborers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing capital acquired from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; still, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and despite the fact visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of many borders.

The 1st Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored ship gambling hall, features 150 one armed bandits and 60 table games. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machines and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights 300 slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel complex that highlights numerous conveniences on top of the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machine games and eighty eight table games.