There is a captivating background to the Cambodia casinos that reside just over the border from neighboring Thailand, where casino wagering is against the law. Eight gambling halls are situated in a relatively small location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect spot, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular betting locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing income gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls requirements for casino ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; although, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 17:00, and though visas are for all intents and purposes necessary to pass, there are means around this, as is true of most borders.

The first Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in the late nineties, leaving only 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked boat casino, contains 150 slot machine games and 60 tables. The Naga casino is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are 150 slot machine games and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat banque (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machine games and 66 of the familiar gaming tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel compound that contains many luxuries on top of the gambling den, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and 88 tables.