[ English ]

There is an interesting background to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall betting is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are based in a generally small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in a prime area, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a huge business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing capital acquired from the gambling dens ranges from $7.5 million to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of limitations constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; still, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are allegedly needed to cross, there are means around this, as is real of most borders.

The first Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored barge gambling hall, highlights one hundred and fifty slots and sixty table games. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of blackjack, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slots and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel complex that features many luxuries in addition to the casino, which provides ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight gaming tables.