There is an appealing story to the Cambodia gambling halls that reside just across the border from neighboring Thailand, in which casino gambling is prohibited. Eight gambling dens are situated in a relatively small area in the city of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime area, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two most popular gaming centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the casinos ranges from 7.5 million dollars to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a few controls constraints for gambling den ownership. Ownership is required to be largely Thai; however, financial sources are ambiguous. The borders are formally open from 0900 to 1700, and though visas are allegedly needed to cross, there are ways around this, as is true of many border crossings.

The original Cambodia casinos premiered in Phnom Penh in the mid nineties, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling hall in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, an anchored bateau gambling den, contains 150 slot machine games and sixty tables. The Naga river boat is open 24 hours with 42 tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, four tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and 1 each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown soon followed. There are one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four one armed bandits and sixty eight gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machines and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slot machine games and ninety six table games, including 87 baccarat chemin de fer (the most beloved game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. In addition, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five slot machines and sixty six of the normal table games, as well as one table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 gambling dens in Poipet, also in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and ninety seven casino games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an international resort and hotel complex that features many amenities accompanying the casino, which contains ten thousand square feet of one hundred and thirty slot machine games and 88 table games.