[ English ]

There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just over the border from next door Thailand, where casino gaming is not legal. Eight casinos are based in a relatively tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect location, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing capital accrued from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; still, investment sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 1700, and though visas are allegedly required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many borders.

The 1st Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling den, highlights 150 slots and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long opened. There are 150 slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four 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 seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the common gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel compound that features numerous conveniences on top of the gambling den, which houses ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight tables.