Live poker in Phnom Penh is, for practical purposes, one room: The Arena at NagaWorld, an 11-table poker room running 24 hours a day with No-Limit Hold’em from 1/3 up to 20/40, all denominated in US dollars. Everything else in the city is small, private or semi-private, and not something you should build a trip around. If you fly in for poker, you are flying in for NagaWorld.
The Arena, and why it is the whole scene
NagaWorld’s poker operation moved into The Arena Sports & Poker Bar on Level 1 of NagaWorld 1, next to the spa. It is a sportsbook and poker room sharing one floor — a four-metre LED wall and twenty-odd screens on one side, the tables on the other. That sounds like a distraction and mostly it works in your favour: the room fills with people who came for football and stayed for a 1/3 game.
Eleven tables is small by Manila standards and enormous by Cambodian ones. The room is the reason Phnom Penh keeps landing international festivals, and it runs its own weekly tournaments every Saturday and Sunday between them.
What a session actually costs you
The bread and butter is 1/3 and 2/5 No-Limit, with a 5/10-plus game assembling most evenings and PLO or Short Deck going on demand if enough players ask. Bigger No-Limit spreads up to 20/40 when the right group is in town. NagaWorld advertises the lowest rake in Cambodia and it is genuinely competitive by regional standards, though the room does not publish a percentage — ask the floor for the cap on your stake before you sit.
Comps are the part visitors underrate. Listed rates run around $1 an hour at 1/3, $1.50 at 2/5 and $2.50 at 5/10 and above, and there is a long-standing promotion where roughly eight hours of tracked cash play covers a free hotel night. Grind two sessions a day and your accommodation stops being a line item. Confirm both at the desk when you check in for your first session, because promotions rotate.
Everything outside the casino
Listings surface a handful of other Phnom Penh venues — Riverking One-Pub and Poker Ace among them — and the city has a rotating cast of private clubs advertised through Telegram groups. Some are fine. Some are not, and Cambodia does not offer you much recourse if a private game decides your buy-in stayed on the table. Unless a player you personally trust is vouching for the game and taking you in, treat NagaWorld as the only address worth writing down.
Rules that catch first-timers
Cambodian nationals are barred from gambling in the country’s casinos under the 2020 commercial gambling law, so NagaWorld’s tables are a foreigner-and-expat room by design — expect to show your passport, not a local ID. Cash is US dollars in practice, and the riel is effectively small change. Bring your buy-in in clean hundreds; ATM withdrawal fees in Phnom Penh are among the least fun in Southeast Asia. Coming from Vietnam, the transition is smoother than most: our Ho Chi Minh City poker rooms guide covers the club-versus-casino split you will already be used to.
When to book
The calendar peak is WPT Cambodia, which took over NagaWorld from 21 January to 9 February in 2026 with 138 tournaments, 73 of them numbered events, and buy-ins spanning $200 to $20,000 — we covered the festival’s opening days here. Expect the same window in early 2027. Outside a festival the room still runs 24/7, but the 5/10 game is thinner and the weekend tournaments are modest. If you want a guaranteed full room, book against the festival dates; if you want soft 1/3 with no queue, come in the off weeks.
Satellites are the sane way in at the top end. Qualifying online through Natural8 or a similar APAC-facing room turns a $3,500 main into a fraction of that, and the same logic applies at Genting — see our Genting poker room guide for the region’s other legal-tables outlier. Stuck on a deposit or a payout while you are travelling? @PAGDaddyBot on Telegram will sort it faster than a support ticket from a hotel lobby.
Frequently asked questions
Is there more than one real poker room in Phnom Penh?
Not meaningfully. The Arena at NagaWorld is the only room with a permanent 11-table setup, published games and 24-hour dealing. Other listings are pubs or private clubs.
What stakes run at NagaWorld?
No-Limit Hold’em from 1/3 up to 20/40, with 1/3 and 2/5 running around the clock and 5/10-plus most evenings. PLO and Short Deck run on demand.
What currency do the games use?
US dollars. Cambodia runs on USD for anything larger than street-food money, and the poker room is no exception.
Can Cambodians play at NagaWorld?
No. Cambodian nationals are prohibited from gambling in domestic casinos under the country’s 2020 commercial gambling law. The room caters to visitors and expats.
Do I get comped for cash game hours?
Yes. Hourly comps scale with stake, roughly $1 at 1/3 up to $2.50 at 5/10 and above, and accumulated cash game hours have long been convertible into free hotel nights. Check current terms at the desk.
When is WPT Cambodia at NagaWorld?
The 2026 edition ran 21 January to 9 February with 138 tournaments and buy-ins from $200 to $20,000. A similar early-year window is expected for 2027.
Is Phnom Penh worth a dedicated poker trip?
During a festival, yes — the field is genuinely international and the buy-ins are low for the standard of structure. Outside one, Manila or Jeju give you more tables for the same flight time.