There is a captivating background to the Cambodia gambling halls that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling hall gaming is not permitted. Eight gambling halls are based in a relatively small location in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime location, a 3 to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular wagering centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a few controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; still, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are for all intents and purposes needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of many borders.

The initial Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving just 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary ship gambling hall, features 150 slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga river boat never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one 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 followed. A total of 150 slot machines and 5 tables at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machines and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the normal table games, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the eight gambling halls in Poipet, again a part of a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in a multinational vacation and hotel compound that highlights numerous conveniences in addition to the casino, which houses 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slot machines and eighty eight gaming tables.