Europa Costa Rica Cardroom

[Derringer]

Anyone been there. Limits on HE? Was there some recent cheating scandal??

[TruePoker CEO]

I've played at the Europa several times. The Casino is downstairs in the Radisson Hotel, not to be confused with the Europa Hotel .... or the Hotel Del Rey, to which your cab will likely try and take you anyway.

Briefly, Europa spreads no-limit tournaments three nights per week. These are fairly fun as about 1/2 the field is very good and 1/2 very not good. There are numerous rebuys and an add-on. Although the initial buy-in is $10, you should plan on investing about $60, due to re-buys and the value added add-on.

Live games are spread every night, in my experience. They usually spread a 4 - 8 game or two, with 2 rounds of Omaha split and one round of holdem. There generally is a higher limit game as well. Maybe 10-20 holdem, althugh pot limit and no limit have been spread while I've been there.

If you find a game, it is a great place for action. Costa Ricans, about 1/2 the table, love to bet. For some reason, players buy a few chips and often have to re-buy. By and large, the games are pretty lively and most players like to play. The general language is Spanish, but a number of folks speak English. You probably will see someone affilated with some online poker site playing, given the number with some presence in Costa Rica.

You can buy in with dollars or colones. One of the quirks with tourneys is that you pay only at the first break, chips are simply noted on a slip until then.

Ask for Jim, the manager. They do offer both food and beverage comps, and massages. They also have a high hand bonus for quads or better.

As for the "Scandal" .... basically, the former Casino owner is a fugitive from authorities who are looking for him for financial matters unrelated to the poker operation ... That is all I know.

Truepoker CEO

[David Ottosen]

Its ok...pretty friendly group. I can't get a clear handle on the rake in the tourneys so I usually don't play there. Smoking allowed too /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Not sure what cheating scandal you are referring to.

[TruePoker CEO]

There is no clear handle on the tourney rake, because they do not tell how many re-buys/add-ons.