Camisa Por Favor!

I can't think of many things worse than the humiliation of tapping out and having to buy more chips. Sometimes I will even go to the cage when I'm getting low just to avoid having to stop the game to get more chips from the dealer or have a chip runner make a production behind me at the table.

The Spanish word camisa means shirt in English. When I heard this word being spoken, often with a giggle or a shout, at Casinos Europa in San Jose, Costa Rica, I was thrown for a loop.

Then, Nick Gullo, casino director, explained to me that the word camisa in the cardroom means rebuy. "As in losing your shirt," Nick said politely, as if I were the last one there to figure this out. After five days in Costa Rica, I realized that the meaning of this word extends far beyond the simple translation. What it signifies is a laid-back culture and a happy-go-lucky attitude that make Costa Rica such a special place.

I arrived in San Jose on Feb. 27 for five days of poker, relaxation, and sightseeing. The first thing that struck me was the scenery – and I don't mean the volcanoes or the beaches. At Casinos Europa, dozens of beautiful young women (called anfitrionas), and a few handsome young men, are elegantly dressed and are at the beck and call of the players. You'd almost have to see it to believe it. These models are walking advertisements for products such as Imperial, the only beer brewed in Costa Rica, Marlboro, and Paul Mitchell. And while I'm a poker player who takes an "it depends" approach and avoids stereotypes, I don't mind breaking that rule and saying that Costa Rican women are some of the most beautiful in the world. I almost took up smoking just so I could have a clean ashtray brought to me every two minutes.

All right, enough of that. Let's talk about the action – the poker action, that is. The best way to describe the poker at Casinos Europa is to say that aside from models walking around and the word camisa being uttered, I didn't feel like I was in Costa Rica at all. Many on the staff are Americans, imported from casinos in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Biloxi, as were a majority of the players. There was a good mix of games with limits from $3-$6 to $30-$60.

For the big-limit players, there was also a no-limit hold'em game that I heard was wide-open and often had big bucks on the table. Although I had never played no-limit before, I managed to get my feet wet in an $11 satellite, and later in a $55 satellite. In the $55 satellite, I moved all in with pocket tens against a player with A-K. Warren Karp, who was in the big blind and was short-stacked, went all in with 9-7, clearly the right play considering his chip position and the overlay he was getting.

I beat the A-K, but couldn't fade Warren, who not only made a straight, but also managed to come back and win the satellite. It was hard to get mad at a guy who had me in stitches for an entire satellite. Let's just say Warren had more jokes than he had outs in that pot against me!

Determined not to be a slave to the cardroom, I booked a tour and saw some of the beautiful countryside of Costa Rica. In just 11 hours, I was treated to a volcano, a coffee plantation, and a boat ride that included sights of monkeys, crocodiles, and several tropical birds that I'm not sure I can pronounce. The trip was all the more pleasurable because of the company of Jo-Jo, a top player from Oceanside, California, whom I had befriended, and Victor, our bilingual tour guide, who was sympathetic to my hangover and had a healthy supply of Alka Seltzer at his disposal.

Had I not been intent on having so much fun, I probably would have done a bit more networking. The all-star cast down in Costa Rica included Linda Johnson, deservedly called "The First Lady of Poker," and Men "The Master" Nguyen, who served as a host and gave a fantastic speech during a break at the last tournament. I also had a chance to meet Rick and Fich from voiceofpoker.com, who came all the way from Mississippi to broadcast the final table of the tournament. Jerry Buss, owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, and top tournament players Tom McEvoy, "Miami" John Cernuto, Diego Cordovez, and Mel Judah blended in with top Costa Rican players such as Humberto Brenes, Gustavo Echeverria, and Nathan Wager to round out a star-studded and friendly cast.

The next time I lose my chips, no matter where I am, I'm not going to tiptoe over to the cage. Instead, I'm going to take a cue from my comrades in Costa Rica, and stand up and shout, "Camisa!"

Greg Dinkin is the author of The Poker MBA: Winning in Business No Matter What Cards You're Dealt. Visit www.thepokermba.com. For a book review – plus a joker – send an E-mail to [email protected], subject heading, The Poker MBA.