[ English ]

There is a captivating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the border from nearby Thailand, in which gambling hall gaming is against the law. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent area, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai laborers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from seven and a half million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; still, investment sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 09:00 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is correct of many borders.

The original Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty slots and sixty table games. The Naga river boat 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 one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The original gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 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 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and sixty six of the common table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel compound that highlights many amenities in addition to the gambling den, which has ten thousand square feet of 130 slot machine games and 88 table games.