[ English ]

There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the border from neighboring Thailand, where casino gaming is not legal. Eight casinos are based in a relatively tiny location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime destination, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, funding sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are allegedly required to cross, there are methods around this, as is real of many border crossings.

The first Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling hall, contains one hundred and fifty slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of blackjack, 10 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 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and 66 of the normal table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slots and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational resort and hotel compound that features a number of conveniences aside from the gambling hall, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.