There is a captivating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that sit just across the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling hall gaming is prohibited. Eight gambling dens are established in a generally tiny space in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime area, a three to 4 hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling halls do a huge business with Thai laborers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, funding sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and even though visas are apparently required to cross, there are ways around this, as is correct of most border crossings.

The initial Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving only a single gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling den, highlights one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 table games. The Naga gambling den is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of chemin de fer, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The 1st gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, opened in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are 150 slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 one armed bandits and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slots and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machines and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 one armed bandits and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-around resort and hotel complex that features many luxuries on top of the gambling hall, which has 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slot machines and 88 gaming tables.