[ English ]

There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall gaming is not permitted. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect location, a three to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and although visas are apparently necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is real of many borders.

The initial Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling den, features 150 slot machine games and 60 gaming tables. The Naga casino is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machines and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel compound that features many luxuries in addition to the gambling den, which offers ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.