[ English ]

There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall betting is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a relatively tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect location, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The amazing income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, financing sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 0900 to 1700, and even though visas are supposedly necessary to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of most 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 only 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary boat gambling den, highlights 150 slot machine games and 60 gaming tables. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machines and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, again a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive vacation and hotel building that features numerous comforts aside from the gambling den, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 gaming tables.