Poker in Aruba

[budman]

The games at the Holiday Inn (Excelsior) and Radisson are the best. They supposedly had poker in a casino at the other end of the hotels but they never had any action the two times I tried.

Of the other two I preferred the Radisson. I took a screwing at the Excelsior when some of the locals were talking in their native jibberish. One of them mentioned that he had folded a black ace when the flush came down on the river. After hearing that, the villian knew his flush was better than mine and I lost an extra bet. The dealer must have known what was going on and never asked the locals to stop talking about their hands and their folded hands.

Anyway, the games at the Radisson are good when they go. The family that owns it play there. They are good players who like to gamble it up. Their mother is a solid player too. They put out snacks late at night.

But you will not find high limit games anywhere on the island. The rules are a little different than in the US. They play 11 handed if there are enough players. And you can raise to the double big bet right off the bat if you want. This doesn't seem like a big difference but it throws off the tourists. It took me a while to adjust. For instance, you can immediately raise to $40 under the gun pre-flop from under the gun.

Have fun!!!