There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the border from nearby Thailand, where casino gaming is not legal. Eight gambling halls are established in a relatively small space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime area, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; although, investment sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 09:00 to 17:00, and though visas are allegedly necessary to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of most border crossings.

The initial Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling hall, features 150 one armed bandits and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of chemin de fer, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly opened. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 table games, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around resort and hotel complex that highlights a number of conveniences accompanying the gambling den, which offers 10,000 square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and 88 table games.