[ English ]

There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall gambling is banned. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect location, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 biggest gambling locations 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 few Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financial sources are vague. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and even though visas are for all intents and purposes needed to cross, there are means around this, as is real of most border crossings.

The 1st Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored boat casino, features one hundred and fifty slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga casino never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, two 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 the late nineties and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and 68 table games at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around vacation and hotel complex that highlights numerous conveniences on top of the casino, which offers ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight tables.