[ English ]

There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the border from neighboring Thailand, where casino gambling is not permitted. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a generally tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime area, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 1700, and although visas are supposedly necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is correct of most border crossings.

The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one 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 before long opened. There are 150 one armed bandits and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machine games and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, 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 vacation and hotel building that highlights many amenities in addition to the casino, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and 88 table games.