[ English ]

There is an interesting background to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is banned. Eight gambling halls are based in a relatively small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a prime destination, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mostly Thai; however, financial sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and despite the fact visas are apparently necessary to cross, there are means around this, as is true of most borders.

The initial Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling hall, contains 150 slot machine games and 60 gaming tables. The Naga casino never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are 150 slot machines and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machine games and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six table games, including eighty seven punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the common table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around resort and hotel compound that features many luxuries aside from the gambling hall, which contains 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and 88 gaming tables.