There is an interesting history to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the border from next door Thailand, where casino gambling is against the law. Eight gambling dens are established in a generally tiny space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia casinos is in a prime area, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and guests from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing income gained from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than 12.5 million, and there are a couple of controls requirements for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is required to be mainly Thai; although, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 5:00 p.m., and despite the fact visas are allegedly needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of many border crossings.

The 1st Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving only 1 casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored boat casino, contains 150 one armed bandits and sixty tables. The Naga gambling den 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 initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of 150 slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and ninety six table games, including 87 punto banco (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and sixty six of the common table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machines and 97 games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive vacation and hotel complex that highlights a number of amenities on top of the gambling hall, which has ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight tables.