[ English ]

There is an appealing story to the Cambodia casinos that lie just over the dividing line from next door Thailand, where gambling hall gambling is prohibited. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally tiny location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent location, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest wagering 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 couple of Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, financing sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 1700, and though visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is true of most border crossings.

The original Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat casino, contains 150 one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling den is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty six of the normal gaming tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel compound that highlights numerous luxuries on top of the gambling hall, which contains ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 table games.