There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the border from nearby Thailand, where gambling den wagering is not allowed. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a relatively tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect destination, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a thriving business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income accrued from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is assumed to be largely Thai; however, financing sources are vague. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are supposedly needed to cross, there are methods around this, as is real of most borders.

The 1st Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just one gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked bateau casino, contains one hundred and fifty slots and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of twenty-one, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The first gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and five tables at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machines and seventy tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slots and 66 of the normal tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive resort and hotel building that highlights many comforts accompanying the gambling hall, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 one armed bandits and 88 tables.