When in Rome … OK, When in Costa Rica!

As I have mentioned before on many occasions, as it is one of the coolest things in my life, I spend lots of time traveling around the world to different areas for poker-related activities. Yeah, I know, I hear it all the time: "Pretty sweet, PokerFish (my online nickname), nice job, you get paid for this?" Although it is not all roses and glamour, it is a pretty neat life that I am enjoying right now, and although the financial rewards have not come close to allowing me to take an early retirement, I have opportunities of which most players can only dream. OK, enough gloating.

I recently returned from the Linda Johnson Celebrity Challenge, which was held at Casinos Europa in San Jose, Costa Rica. This was the eighth time that I had the fortunate opportunity to travel to this beautiful country not only to play poker, but to travel and tour extensively. The first poker tournament held by Casinos Europa sometime ago that actively recruited American players attracted about 80 U.S. citizens. It has been amazing and satisfying to watch the growth and popularity of these Costa Rican tournaments over the past few years. The recent Linda Johnson Celebrity Challenge attracted nearly 300 Americans. Casinos Europa's next big tournament will be a World Poker Tour event. Scheduled for Oct. 13-19, it likely will attract more than 400 gringos. These tournaments have definitely made a name for themselves on the poker map. I am proud to have been a part of that growth and to have encouraged so many people to make the trek to Costa Rica to experience the lively poker action as well as the beautiful country. I don't know of any players who have returned to America without fond memories of their experiences.

Costa Rica is a country that has never had a war and does not have an army. The locals are laid-back, easy-going people. This is a huge contrast to our way of life, of course. What does that mean to a poker player who's going down there for the first (or eighth) time? It means chill out and give the "Tikos" (locals) a break. With the phenomenal growth of these tournaments, it has been tough for Casinos Europa to keep up the pace of supplying local poker room personnel. Most of the dealers and staff are experienced and very good, but a few are novices who are just beginning their cardroom careers. Many American dealers have been recruited to work during the tournaments, but Casinos Europa also wants to give the locals a chance to work, as well it should. Over the past two years, the casino has been actively training poker dealers in order to eventually be self-sufficient in hiring from a local pool of dealers.

Playing poker in Costa Rica is lots of fun and very entertaining. The locals consider poker to be a real sport, and often get excited and animated over the turn of a card. It is relatively inexpensive to play in Costa Rica, as the rake is a maximum of $3 in games with limits up to $20-$40.

Both tourists and locals alike enjoy the $10 buy-in, multiple rebuy no-limit hold'em tourneys for which the casino has become famous. An "honor system" is employed, whereby players sign for their buy-in and rebuys as they go, and pay for them at the end of the event. Everyone is issued credit - that's right, everyone. You do not pay a dime until you are finished playing. All that is asked of you in return is that you settle up in a timely fashion, which is not too much to ask when they have extended this credit to you. Unfortunately, since we Americans are not used to their system, sometimes we leave a tournament and forget to pay. On more than one occasion I have gone to my room and gone to bed, only to remember that I forgot to pay for my "camisas" (rebuys). It's rather embarrassing to have to get up, get dressed, and go back to the cardroom to pay for them several hours after retiring for the night. It is especially embarrassing for me, since I go back wearing my jammies! I hope to see you in Costa Rica in October. Class dismissed!

For information about Card Player Cruises poker vacations, please see the website at www.cardplayercruises.com. Also, please E-mail me with any questions, comments, or column ideas. I personally will answer every letter I receive.