There is an appealing background to the Cambodia gambling halls that lie just over the border from neighboring Thailand, in which gambling den gambling is prohibited. Eight gambling halls are situated in a relatively small location in the metropolis of Poipet in Cambodia. This conclave of Cambodia gambling dens is in a prime spot, a 3 to four hour travel from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest betting centers in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a huge business with Thai workers and travelers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with just a few Westerners. The phenomenal income accrued from the casinos ranges from $7.5 million to over twelve and a half million dollars, and there are a number of limitations constraints for casino ownership. Ownership is assumed to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are vague. The borders are formally open from 9:00 a.m. to 1700, and even though visas are allegedly required to cross, there are means around this, as is true of many border crossings.

The original Cambodia gambling halls premiered in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in the late nineties, leaving only a single casino in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a docked ship gambling hall, highlights one hundred and fifty slot machine games and sixty table games. The Naga casino is open 24 hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat banque, four tables of vingt-et-un, 10 of roulette, 2 of Caribbean Stud Poker, and a single table each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.

The initial gambling hall in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in 1999 and the Golden Crown quickly opened. There are 150 slots and five table games at the Golden Crown and one hundred and four slot machines and sixty eight table games at the Holiday Palace. The newest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort highlights three hundred slot machine games and seventy gaming tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has one hundred and sixty six slot machine games and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (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 sixty six of the common tables, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. One more of the 8 casinos in Poipet, again in a hotel, is the Princess Casino with 166 slots and ninety seven table games. The Star Vegas Casino is part of an all-inclusive vacation and hotel compound that contains many luxuries aside from the gambling hall, which has ten thousand sq.ft. of one hundred and thirty slots and eighty eight gaming tables.