[ English ]

There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, in which casino wagering is banned. Eight gambling halls are situated in a generally tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime spot, a three to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing capital acquired from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; still, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 17:00, and even though visas are apparently needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is accurate of many border crossings.

The first Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling den, highlights 150 slots and sixty tables. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 table games, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty six of the familiar tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that features many conveniences accompanying the gambling den, which has ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and 88 table games.