There is a fascinating background to the Cambodia gambling dens that reside just across the border from neighboring Thailand, where gambling hall betting is not permitted. Eight casinos are anchored in a generally small area in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia casinos is in an excellent area, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest wagering locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai workers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a couple of Westerners. The amazing income gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a couple of controls constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is presumed to be largely Thai; still, funding sources are ambiguous. The borders are ceremoniously open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and though visas are for all intents and purposes required to cross, there are methods and means around this, as is true of many borders.

The first Cambodia casinos opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just one gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling den, contains 150 one armed bandits and 60 table games. The Naga river boat is open all day and night with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of 21, 10 of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are one hundred and fifty slots and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machines and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features 300 slot machine games and 70 gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 one armed bandits and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the normal tables, as well as 1 table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a multinational vacation and hotel complex that highlights a number of luxuries in addition to the casino, which houses 10,000 sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight gaming tables.