There is a captivating story to the Cambodia gambling dens that lie just over the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling den gaming is illegal. Eight gambling dens are established in a relatively tiny space in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This collection of Cambodia gambling halls is in a prime location, a three to 4 hour trip from Bangkok and Macao, the two biggest gambling centers in Asia. Cambodia gambling dens do a thriving business with Thai laborers and visitors from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The phenomenal income gained from the gambling halls ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over 12.5 million dollars, and there are a couple of limitations constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mainly Thai; although, financing sources are cryptic. The borders are officially open from 9:00 a.m. to 17:00, and even though visas are supposedly required to pass, there are methods and means around this, as is true of most borders.

The original Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving just a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked bateau gambling hall, features 150 slot machines and sixty gaming tables. The Naga casino is open all hours with 42 tables of mini-punto banco, four tables of 21, ten of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The original casino in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown soon opened. There are one hundred and fifty slot machine games and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains 300 slot machines and 70 table games and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six gaming tables, including 87 punto banco (the most popular game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machine games and 66 of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the eight casinos in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with one hundred and sixty six one armed bandits and ninety seven games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of a comprehensive resort and hotel complex that highlights a number of comforts in addition to the gambling hall, which provides 10,000 square feet of 130 one armed bandits and 88 table games.