There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling den gaming is not allowed. Eight gambling halls are established in a generally tiny space in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling halls is in an excellent area, a 3 to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of restrictions constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 1700, and although visas are apparently necessary to cross, there are methods around this, as is real of many border crossings.

The first Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling den, features one hundred and fifty slot machines and sixty tables. The Naga casino is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. A total of 150 one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slots and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slots and sixty six of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an international vacation and hotel compound that contains numerous comforts aside from the casino, which houses ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty one armed bandits and eighty eight tables.