Cambodia Gambling Dens
March 26th, 2026 at 9:25
There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which casino gambling is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a relatively small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia casinos is in a perfect spot, a three to four hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing capital accrued from the gambling dens ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of limitations constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, funding sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and although visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of many borders.
The first Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored ship gambling hall, highlights 150 one armed bandits and sixty table games. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty slots and five tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machines and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the common gaming 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 one hundred and sixty six slots and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive vacation and hotel building that highlights numerous luxuries accompanying the gambling den, which contains ten thousand square feet of 130 slots and eighty eight table games.