There is a fascinating history to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which casino wagering is banned. Eight casinos are based in a relatively tiny area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime location, a 3 to 4 hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the 2 largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very couple of Westerners. The phenomenal income acquired from the gambling dens ranges from 7.5 million dollars to more than twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of controls requirements for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; although, funding sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and even though visas are apparently required to cross, there are methods around this, as is true of most borders.

The 1st Cambodia gambling dens premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a moored barge gambling den, features one hundred and fifty slot machine games and sixty gaming tables. The Naga gambling hall is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The first casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and five table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slot machine games and sixty eight tables at the Holiday Palace. The newer Holiday Palace Casino and Resort features three hundred one armed bandits and seventy table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machines and 96 table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Also, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the normal tables, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. Another one of the eight gambling dens in Poipet, also in a motel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel building that features a number of luxuries on top of the gambling den, which has 10,000 square feet of 130 slots and eighty eight tables.