There is a fascinating story to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the border from next door Thailand, where casino betting is not legal. Eight gambling dens are anchored in a generally tiny location in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This band of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime location, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gambling locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The amazing income accrued from the casinos ranges from seven and a half million dollars to over 12.5 million, and there are a few restrictions constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; still, financial sources are cryptic. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and although visas are apparently required to pass, there are methods around this, as is real of most borders.

The initial Cambodia gambling dens opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were required to close in 1998, leaving just a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked barge gambling den, contains one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 table games. The Naga gambling hall never closes with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown before long followed. There are 150 one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machine games and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newer 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 slot machines and 96 gaming tables, including eighty seven baccarat (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with 135 slot machines and sixty six of the familiar table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling halls in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slot machine games and 97 casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international vacation and hotel complex that features a number of conveniences in addition to the casino, which offers 10,000 square feet of 130 slot machines and 88 tables.