[ English ]

There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just over the border from next door Thailand, where casino gaming is not legal. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively tiny space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent location, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; however, investment sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 1700, and although visas are apparently needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is real of most border crossings.

The original Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored bateau gambling hall, features one hundred and fifty slot machine games and sixty table games. The Naga gambling den never closes with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, 4 tables of twenty-one, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slots and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the normal gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around vacation and hotel compound that highlights a number of luxuries aside from the casino, which offers 10,000 square feet of 130 slots and eighty eight gaming tables.