There is an appealing history to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the dividing line from nearby Thailand, where casino gambling is illegal. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a relatively tiny location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a perfect spot, a 3 to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The amazing income acquired from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of limitations requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; however, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 17:00, and despite the fact visas are allegedly needed to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is true of most border crossings.

The original Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only one casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored boat gambling den, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty table games. The Naga casino never closes with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, four tables of blackjack, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The 1st gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slots and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat chemin de fer (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and 66 of the common tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel complex that features numerous conveniences accompanying the gambling den, which houses ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight gaming tables.